Police in London said on Wednesday they have arrested a 37-year-old man after a girl, aged 11, gave birth to a baby boy.
The young girl, reportedly from an African country, went into labour at Hillingdon Hospital in West London on May 5.
She and her baby have since been taken into the care of Hillingdon Borough Council, a spokesperson for the local authority said.
The girl had gone to the hospital complaining of stomach pains but went into labour as she sat on the toilet, The Sun tabloid reported.
An anonymous source at the hospital told the daily: ”The whole episode was astonishing — she was only a child herself. The baby’s head had already popped out before the midwife got anywhere near her.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers arrested the 37-year-old man at a house in Uxbridge, West London, on Tuesday, but did not say how he might be connected to the case.
He has been been bailed to return to a West London police station in July while officers from the force’s child abuse team continue their investigation. – Sapa-AFP