Telangana: Newborn dies after delivery on bench; parents, doctors trade charges

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident to ascertain the facts.

The authorities ordered an inquiry into the alleged negligence of the medical staff after a new-born child reportedly died after falling off a bench on which he was delivered outside the labour room of a government-run hospital in Telangana.

Parents say their new-born child died after falling off a bench on which he was delivered , but hospital authorities claim the baby was stillborn (Representative image)

Hospital authorities, however, gave a different version of the incident. They said the baby was stillborn.

The incident happened at the state’s Khammam district on Saturday, but came to light only on Sunday when farther of the child Rajaiah, a farmer from Pallegudem village, brought the matter to the notice of the local media claiming hospital staff denied the mother a bed. Minister for roads and buildings Tummala Nageshwar Rao, who hails from the district, ordered an inquiry into the incident.

According to Rajaiah, his wife Nagamani (26) delivered the baby with the help of their relatives on the bench as she could not get a berth in the hospital even after waiting for hours. “Nobody bothered to attend her. There was no nursing staff,” he alleged.

After the delivery when she was trying to hold the baby, the male child accidentally slipped of her hands and fell into the floor.

“It was only when we raised a hue and cry, the hospital staff came there and took the baby into the labour room. They later declared him dead,” Rajaiah said.

He claimed it was only after the child died the hospital authorities hurriedly got some papers signed by him. Later, they got the infant buried with the help of the police, he added.

When contacted, Khammam Government Hospital Superintendent Madan Singh told Hindustan Times that there was no truth in the parents’ version of the incident.

“She (the woman) was brought to the hospital in the eighth month of pregnancy and it was a premature delivery. The infant was stillborn and could have died in the womb itself due to medical complications,” he said.

Singh, however, admitted there was some delay in admitting the mother into the hospital and taking her into the labour room and that they were conducting an internal inquiry.

“The doctor who was to perform the delivery was busy with another operation and hence, could not attend to this woman,” he said adding, “It is not exactly known whether she delivered the baby on the bench or in the labour room.”

Action would be take if there was any lapse on the part of the hospital staff, Singh added.