Pregnant woman, unborn child dies at Mumbai hospital, family alleges medical negligence

Mumbai: Family members of a 35-year-old woman have alleged negligence from the side of Khan Bahadur Bhabha Hospital in Kurla after the woman and her unborn child died in the hospital on Thursday.  

The family alleged that the hospital initially refused to admit her and then delayed her treatment, which resulted in their death. 

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The woman, Kiran Pathak along with her 41-year-old husband Vijay Pathak went to Bhabha Hospital at around 6 am on Thursday after she began getting labor pains. She was eventually taken to the labor room but passed away within two hours of reaching the hospital. 

Vijay said, "The hospital was initially hesitant to admit my wife. Around 7 am they admitted her to the maternity ward after several requests. They, however, were reluctant to attend and treat her. Thrice my wife came out of the maternity ward and told me that she was in unbearable pain but the hospital staff did nothing." 

He said, "I went to the nurses around and told them if they are not ready to treat my wife, I am ready to take her to some other hospital." Vijay said that the hospital remained unwilling to treat her. When Kiran fainted, the hospital reportedly said that she is faking it and women have to bear the labor pain. At around 9 am, some senior doctors reached the hospital and informed the family members that the woman and the baby in the womb had passed away. 

Vijay added, "Later the cops and the hospital authorities started forcing me to sign some papers and take the body immediately." He demanded the police to conduct an inquiry into the death. 

Vijay lamented, "Had they seen to my wife in time, she would have been alive today. In fact, when she told me no one was attending to her, we were thinking of shifting her, but she collapsed. At the time, a security guard remarked, 'Woh natak kar rahi hai (she is being melodramatic)'. This is the kind of treatment they give to poor persons." 

Speaking to Mid-day, Mahendra Pathak, Vijay's younger brother said, "In the early hours of Thursday, my bhabhi experienced labour pains. My elder brother called me, asking me to help take her to the hospital. She was rushed to the labour room, but there was no one there to look after her. Finally, after an hour, she came out and told me she was not being attended to. We ran from pillar to post, but there was no one to help us." 

An accidental death report (ADR) has been registered by the Kurla police. Ravindra Howale, senior police inspector of Kurla police station said, "The husband approached us on Thursday morning alleging negligence on the part of the doctors. We have registered his statement and filed an ADR. We are awaiting the post-mortem note from the hospital and will take action accordingly."

Howale stated, "A committee of senior doctors will look into the allegations of medical negligence and based on their report we will decide the further course of action." 

Sanjay Kurhade, deputy municipal commissioner (public health) said, "The deceased's family has made some serious allegations. We have launched a probe to find the facts. We will also take the post-mortem report into consideration." 

According to sources, her haemoglobin was reportedly low and she was going through a life-threatening ailment which might have contributed to her death. The woman was reportedly undergoing treatment for a condition at Sion hospital for two months. 

Stating that the incident needs to be investigated properly, former Congress councillor from Kurla, Ashraf Azmi informed Hindustan Times, "In the past, there were some incidents in which the hospital staff acted very arrogantly and treated people inappropriately. Apart from the regular staff, the outsourced staff, especially the security guards at the hospital are also very arrogant." 

However, refuting the allegations of negligence, an official from the hospital said, "The woman was having some comorbidities that made it a very high-risk pregnancy, to begin with," adding, "We have made the police aware of the exact nature of the problems being faced by the mother, and the risks associated with them." The official alleged that there was no delay in attending to the patient and the doctors took only some time in figuring out her situation and the direction of the treatment.  

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