These are usually asked under the chapter Medicolegal Autopsy, especially special situations where additional examination is mandatory.
Autopsy of a Newborn / Infant
Objectives: establish identity; determine whether the child was live-born or stillborn; determine viability and maturity; determine duration of survival after birth; ascertain cause of death; detect infanticide, neglect or child abuse.
External examination
- Identification: sex, weight, length, head circumference.
- Maturity features: body proportions, skin, hair, nails, ossification centres.
- Umbilical cord: length, condition, evidence of ligation, signs of healing.
- Signs of live birth: air in lungs, crying evidence, milk in stomach.
- Injuries: birth, accidental, homicidal.