The devastated Brazilian mother whose baby was allegedly decapitated at birth earlier this month “can’t sleep” and “can barely walk” after the traumatic delivery, her loved ones said.

Ranielly Coelho Santos, 34, and her baby’s father made headlines when they filed a police complaint stating that an obstetrician at Hospital das Clinicas da UFMG in Belo Horizante “ripped off” their daughter’s head on May 1.

“Mentally, I don’t even have the words to describe it. My sister only knows how to cry. She can’t sleep,” Santos’ sister, Aryane Santos, told O TEMPO this week.

“When she succeeds [at falling asleep], she wakes up with a start, thinking that she is hearing a [baby] scream,” the grieving aunt continued.

“She can barely walk from 60 stitches. Her breast gives milk, and this is very sad, it is a trigger.”

In the complaint filed on May 7, Santos – who also has a 9-year-old daughter – describes how her labor was induced at 28 weeks due to high blood pressure, the outlet said.

The baby’s father claims his daughter was moving her mouth and eyes, indicating that she was alive when her head first emerged. But then the obstetrician, who has not been identified, tried to remove the baby’s body quickly and “ripped off the child’s head.”

The baby girl – who the family planned to name Manuelle Vitória – had her head sewn back on so Santos could hold her, according to O TEMPO.

The heartbroken family said the hospital offered to cover funeral costs for their daughter as long as the parents signed a waiver stating that an autopsy had been performed and would not be forwarded to the Legal Medical Institute (IML).

The hospital has since claimed that the baby would not have survived due to a lung malformation. Santos and the infant’s father say the medical staff never informed them of this.

The civil police confirmed to O TEMPO that an investigation into the tragedy was ongoing.

“As soon as possible, other information will be released,” they said in a statement.