Baby declared still-born, alive several hours later

Baby declared still-born, alive several hours later

Writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi has condemned the sheer callousness in private medical care and called for strong action.

Kolkata: A baby boy wrongly declared still-born at a premier nursing home here and on the verge of being taken for burial was alive several hours later but his life was not out of danger. The infant born prematurely was battling for life at a hospital where he was shifted after the apparent mistake was discovered at the nursing home.

The CEO of the nursing home, Belle Vue Clinic, P Tandon, who first refused to describe the baby's case as medical negligence, later said an internal inquiry had been ordered.

"This is not a case of medical negligence. It happens sometimes that a baby doesn't respond. This is what exactly happened. After we came to know we immediately sent the baby, which was premature and underweight to AMRI hospital for better treatment," Tandon said.

An hour later, Tandon changed his statement saying, "We have started an internal inquiry and if we find any lapse on the part of nurses or doctor, we will take action." AMRI spokesman Kanak Ghosh, however, said: "We cannot say the baby is out of danger. He has been kept in an incubator for observation." Sangita Das, a resident of Belilious Road, Howrah, was admitted to Belle Vue Clinic on Sunday and taken after midnight to the labour room where she delivered a baby boy.

"There was no doctor present during the delivery and on Monday morning the nurses informed me that I had delivered a still-born baby and it was dead," Sangita said.

The hospital authorities reportedly informed Sangita's family more than 10 hours after delivery that the baby was still-born. Husband Manas Das along with his relatives went to the nursing home to collect the 'body' after making arrangements for burial but were told the infant was alive.

Manas' cousin Jayanta Majhi said, "We found the baby's body warm and felt a faint heartbeat.

When we informed the nursing home authorities about the incident, they literally snatched the baby from us for medical attention." Manas said that a complaint was lodged against the nursing home authorities at the Shakespeare Sarani police station.


The police have also started an inquiry, DCP (South) R Subarno said. Health minister Suryakanta Mishra was not available for comment.

Director of Health Services Sanchita Bakshi, said she had not received a complaint. "If we get a complaint from anybody, we will definitely initiate action against the Clinic." Writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi said ''We so far had an idea that the government's health services were poor, but now it is apparent that there is sheer callousness in private medical care. It calls for strong action.

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