Mumbai:
A pregnant mother and her baby have died after doctors at a hospital performed a caesarean section using a mobile phone flashlight. And if the incident wasn't shocking enough, it happened in the country's financial capital, at a hospital run by India's richest civic body: the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, whose budget is over Rs 52,000 crore.
The amount allocated for healthcare is 12 percent, or Rs 6,250 crore.
Khusruddin Ansari, who is specially challenged and has no leg, had his 26-year-old wife Sahidun admitted to the Sushma Swaraj maternity hospital for her delivery. The couple had only been married for eleven months.
The family claims the maternity home lost power on Monday and the generator was not switched on for three hours. They said that even after losing the mother and child, another birth took place in the dark.
Members of the family have been protesting outside the hospital for days and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally ordered an inquiry.
'Incision before consent'
Mr Ansari's mother said: 'My daughter-in-law was absolutely healthy and was already nine months pregnant. All her reports were fine. They took her for the birth on April 29 at 7am, held her all day and until 8pm we were told everything was fine. The doctors told us that the delivery would be normal. When I went to meet her, I saw that she was covered in blood.
“They made an incision and then came to get a signature stating that she had had a seizure and that a caesarean section was needed. Then the power went out and they didn't send us to another hospital even after that. They took us to the operating room and performed the delivery using a telephone torch. The child died and when we cried, the doctor said the mother would survive. They referred us to Sion Hospital but she was also available at the time of death,” she claimed.
An inconsolable Mr Ansari has called for the doctors to be punished. “Just as I suffer, the doctors and staff must suffer, they must be punished. The hospital should be closed,” he said.
“I want justice. I earn a small amount and am specially handicapped. I got married with great difficulty, my life is ruined,” he said.
The family also showed photos and videos of another birth performed in the same operating room using a mobile phone flashlight.
'Strict action needed'
Former BMC councilor Jagruti Patil of the BJP said she has met the party's candidate, Mihir Kotecha, from the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha constituency – under which the hospital falls – and the BMC has finally taken action by initiating an inquiry.
“The condition of the hospital is bad. Similar complaints have been made about this hospital before. Strict action will have to be taken,” she said.