An extremely shocking case has come forth from Tamil Nadu’s Koovathur region in the district of Kanchipuram. During a child delivery, the head of the baby came out of a woman while the torso remained in her.
The woman, identified as Bommi, a native of Cuddalore, was visiting her maternal home during pregnancy near Koovathur. After having gone into labour on Wednesday morning, she was brought to a public health centre in Koovathur. Though the woman was in pain, she was reportedly not given any medicine for pain relief. A midwife and some nurses decided to opt for a vaginal delivery, though they suspected an intrauterine death. According to relatives of the woman, the hospital staff removed only the baby's head and its torso was still stuck in the uterus. The woman was then rushed to the Chengalpattu Medical College hospital and taken up for an emergency surgery. Doctors at the hospital were able to remove the torso of the baby during the surgery and were able to save the woman’s life.
In the meantime, the relatives of the woman have alleged negligence on the part of staff members at a public health centre in Koovathur. They claim that since a doctor was not available, a nurse performed the delivery instead of referring the woman to another hospital. Sources from the health department, however, have stated that the delivery was conducted in a state of emergency, adding that initial reports suggested that an intrauterine death (IUD) had occurred.
“Preliminary investigations are underway. We are trying to find out the reason behind this,” said deputy director of public health (Tamil Nadu) Dr Senthil Kumar said to TNM.
In a similar case, earlier in January, a male nurse from Rajasthan was accused of decapitating a baby during childbirth by the use of excess force when the child was being pushed out of the birth canal. The nurse reportedly took the torso of the child to the mortuary, and sent the mother to another hospital where doctors discovered that the head of the child was left in her. A case of negligence was filed against the hospital staff.