Is it permissible to cut off the head or shoulders of a dead newborn if its delivery is difficult?

The questioner : Cutting off the head or shoulders of a child during birth if it is dead and the delivery is difficult to the extent that it may lead to the woman's death?

The Shaykh : This is a dire necessity, without a doubt, but the matter must be referred to the doctor. This is a dire necessity, and dire necessities permit what is prohibited. However, the matter depends on the doctor's skill and his religious trustworthiness; because not every doctor is trusted in his profession on one hand and in his religion on the other. So if the doctor is religious and skilled, and he sees what you asked about, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not. This happened to me personally; my first wife and the first child I was blessed with was not delivered from the mother's womb except in pieces. So dire necessities permit what is prohibited, yes.