Newborn’s face slashed during emergency C-section requiring 13 stitches

PICTURED: Newborn baby girl whose face was SLASHED during emergency C-section requiring 13 stitches

  • WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 
  • Kyanni Williams suffered a large cut to her left cheek when she was delivered via C-section at Denver Health Hospital on June 15 
  • Parents Reazjhana Davis and Damarqus Williams say injury required 13 stitches and the intervention of a plastic surgeon 
  • Couple were told emergency C-section was needed because their baby moved in the womb and doctors could not hear her heartbeat 
  • Denver Health Hospital argued cut ‘was a known medical complication in emergency C-sections’ 


A Colorado couple are demanding answers from a Denver hospital after they say their newborn baby daughter was slashed in the face during an emergency C-section.

Reazjhana Davis and Damarqus Williams welcomed their daughter, Kyanni Williams, at Denver Health Hospital last Tuesday, but the joy of meeting their youngest child was marred by fear and frustration after learning of the injury their infant had sustained during the delivery. 

As photos shared by the family show, baby Kyanni come into the world with a massive laceration on her left cheek, which required 13 stitches and the intervention of a plastic surgeon. 

‘It’s upsetting; she’s not comfortable,’ Damarqus Williams told Fox 31 of his week-old child.

Kyanni Williams suffered a large cut to her left cheek when she was delivered via C-section at Denver Health Hospital on June 15

The laceration required 13 stitches and the intervention of a plastic surgeon

The laceration required 13 stitches and the intervention of a plastic surgeon 

Parents Reazjhana Davis and Damarqus Williams, pictured above during a recent baby shower, said the original plan was for the mom to deliver their baby naturally

Parents Reazjhana Davis and Damarqus Williams, pictured above during a recent baby shower, said the original plan was for the mom to deliver their baby naturally 

Davis, the girl’s mother, said that her original plan was to deliver the baby naturally, but just minutes after she was given a pill to speed up her labor, she was taken in for surgery. 

‘They said our baby made a sudden movement and they couldn’t hear her heartbeat or find it and they took her into an immediate C-section,’ said the father.

Damarqus added that they were told by medics that Kyanni’s face was close to the placenta wall. 

Kyanni’s grandfather, Walter Williams, described the family’s circumstances of the baby’s delivery as ‘devastating.’ 

Davis, who also has a three-year-old son, said she has never heard of a baby sustaining facial injuries as a result of a C-section. 

Davis said she was given a pill to speed up her labor, and minutes later she was taken in for surgery

Williams said doctors told him his daughter's face was close to the placenta wall

Davis said she was given a pill to speed up her labor, and minutes later she was taken in for surgery. Williams said doctors told him his daughter’s face was close to the placenta wall

A 2006 study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network found that out of more than 37,000 C-sections between January 1999 and December 2000, 272 resulted in the baby sustaining skin lacerations, which accounted for 0.7 per cent. 

Davis, pictured above during her pregnancy, said she has never heard of a baby suffering a cut during a C-section

Davis, pictured above during her pregnancy, said she has never heard of a baby suffering a cut during a C-section

Denver Health addressed the incident in a statement to Fox 31, but offered no explanation for what exactly happened during Davis’ surgery.  

‘Denver Health has been in touch with the family directly,’ the hospital stated. ‘While this is a known medical complication in emergency C-sections, our focus is always on providing care in the best interest of the mother and child. At Denver Health, the safety and well-being of our patients is our number one priority.’

Kyanni’s parental grandmother, Tashaira Williams, tearfully called for the hospital to be held responsible for the baby’s injuries. 

‘I don’t think that’s right,’ she said. ‘They have to be held accountable for what they did.’ 

The grandmother has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her son and his girlfriend pay for an attorney to pursue legal action in this case.