Woman set alight in hospital as she gives birth

A woman in New Zealand was accidentally set alight while giving birth by Caesarean section on a hospital operating table.

The fire, possibly caused by an alcohol-based swabbing solution igniting, left the woman with "significant burns" to the lower part of her body.

Staff quickly smothered the fire before safely delivering a baby boy, who was uninjured. The mother's name has not been released.

Dwayne Crombie, chief executive of Waitakere Hospital in Auckland, said the woman was "comfortable, obviously shaken and getting to grips with the whole lot of things that happened to her over the last 48 hours".

He added that hospital authorities were "working through a list of possible causes" for the operating table fire.

He said the alcohol-based swabbing solution is in standard use in hospitals, so investigators are checking heat and electrical sources in the operating room that could have ignited the liquid.

The fire was "very, very unusual, I've never seen anything like it in 20 years in the health system", Mr Crombie stated.