‘Dead’ baby found alive hours later

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 11:07 am under India News ‘Dead’ baby found alive hours later

In a case of medical negligence perhaps of the worst kind – nurses at a top-notch Kolkata hospital declared a baby stillborn, only for the doctor to find it alive 6 hours later. The family of mother Sangita Das, has registered a case of medical negligence against the concerned hospital.

Nurses at Kolkata’s renowned Belle Vue hospital allegedly declared a baby stillborn, only to find him alive more than 7 hours later. Thirty-three-year-old Sangita Das who was admitted to Belle Vue hospital at night after going into labour three months early. She gave birth to a premature baby boy but the nurses allegedly told that her child was stillborn.

“There were three nurses and one of them, the seniormost, started telling me to prepare myself for a stillborn. She said you have to bear that and consider that possibility. They were trying to contact doctors, not a single doctor was available during that time. Then my child came out normally and I was told that the child is no more, the child has expired,” said a visibly distressed Sangita Das.

She added that there were no doctors available either on the Sunday – the day she was admitted – nor on Monday night (July 1) when the baby was delivered.

Shocking apathy

Das’s husband, Manas Kumar, writes in his complaint, “On completion of the delivery, the nurses informed my wife, that the son she had delivered had expired on birth. hearing the news my wife went into shock. She was neither shown the baby nor given any further information. A little later the Matron on night duty arrived and asked my wife to inform the family members about the expiry.”

Next, without the knowledge of Sangita’s family, a funeral van was also allegedly arranged by the nursing home and a death-certificate prepared. But some 7 and a half hours later a Dr Kakoli Acharya on a routine morning round found the baby was alive and breathing.

“When the father first met the doctor, the latter said baby was dead. Naturally he started crying. Later when they asked for the van which carries the dead, one of the junior doctors said heartbeart was still there. The van was quickly dispensed with, and then the hospital for some reason shifted the baby to another hospital saying they were not ‘equipped’ to deal with the emergency,” recounted Saurav Makin, Sangita’s brother.

More importantly, for about 7 hours after being declared stillborn, the newborn remained unattended, and is now battling for his life in another hospital. Belle Vue hospital claims it has lodged its own internal inquiry into the incident.

The baby’s shocked family has lodged a police complaint into the matter.

Sangita Das, meanwhile, who has to prepare herself mentally for the worst yet again, reiterates, “I just want my child back.”

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Written by: Sajid Manzoor

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