A woman delivered a baby while walking to the toilet at a government hospital in Karnataka’s Haveri on Tuesday and the newborn died instantly after it fell onto the hard floor during the unattended delivery, her family said, accusing the hospital staff of medical negligence.
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The incident took place in the District Government Hospital, where Roopa Girish Karabannanavar, 30, from Kakola village in Ranebennur taluk, was admitted with severe labour pain. Her family members said the woman had been refused a bed due to overcrowding in the labour ward in the women and children’s wing.
Roopa was thus allegedly forced to sit on the floor outside the delivery room while experiencing intense contractions. With no immediate medical assistance forthcoming, she attempted to reach the toilet and unexpectedly went into labour in the hospital pathway, according to her family members.
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Roopa’s family members have filed a formal complaint against hospital staff, attributing the baby’s death entirely to medical negligence. “She was in distress and pain, but none of the hospital staff, including doctors and nurses, cared to look at her. We begged them to address her situation, but they were busy on their mobile phones. They could have saved the child,” a family member told the media.
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District Hospital Surgeon Dr P R Havanur, however, claimed there was no prima facie medical negligence but said he would investigate the matter.
“The woman came to the hospital at 10.27 am and there were already three women at the labour ward. We asked her to wait, but she headed to the bathroom due to delivery pain,” he said.
“Her blood pressure was 160/100 and she was taken inside the ward at 10.36 am. She was eight month pregnant and complained that the foetus had not been moving since Monday. It was the reason she came to the hospital. We suspect that the baby had died before the delivery. I have gone through the CCTV footage. She came out of the ward at 11.07 am. I have instructed the staff to address the problems immediately and will look into the matter,” he added.