In a bizarre incident at the Achampet Hospital in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool, doctors left the body of a foetus inside the mother’s womb after its head was severed from the body during delivery. The issue came to light after the patient was referred to the Petlaburj Maternity Hospital in Hyderabad where doctors found only the body of the child inside the mother’s womb. Angry kin staged a protest and ransacked the Achampet Hospital on Friday.
According to reports, 23-year-old Swathi from Nadimpally village was admitted at the Achampet Hospital on December 18. Swathi and family was informed that it would be a normal delivery and the doctors had not mentioned of any other complications.
“I was given an injection and soon after I was taken into the labour room, the duty doctor Sudha Rani, who was assisting the delivery, called in two other male doctors to assess the situation. After a while, they told my relatives that the situation was complicated and we need to rush to the maternity hospital at Petlaburj. They didn’t tell what the issue was or that the baby’s head was severed,” Swathi says.
Unlike many reports that suggest that the baby’s head was severed during a C-section at the Achampet Hospital, it was a normal delivery. While pulling out of the baby, the head severed while the torso retracted into the womb. The doctors hid the fact and referred Swathi to Petlaburj, around 150 km far from Nagarkurnool, claiming her condition was critical.
Swathi’s kin also alleged that it was only after reaching Hyderabad they realised the baby’s body was left inside Swathi’s womb.
“The doctors at Achampet told she was in a serious condition and that the baby couldn’t be saved. We rushed to Petlaburj hospital where the doctors performed a C-section where they found only the torso of the baby inside the womb,” one of Swathi’s kin told media.
After the incident came to light, Swathi’s relatives ransacked the hospital and damaged furniture during which a police constable was also injured. Nagarkurnool district collector and District Medical Health Officer (DMHO) K Sudhakar Lal took note of the situation and realising lapse on the part of the Achampet hospital authorities, placed hospital superintendent Tara Singh and doctor Sudha Rani under suspension.
However speaking to TNM, DMHO Sudhakar clarified that it is not yet clear whether the baby was still born or died because the head was severed from the body.
“An enquiry committee was set up on Saturday and we have sent the head to a forensic lab to ascertain the cause of death. The ultrasound report of the patient had suggested that the baby has congenital problems because of which she was rushed to the labour room. We are yet to confirm if the baby was still born like the doctors claim or if the head was severed when they tried to pull the infant out of the womb,” he said.
Swathi is out of danger and her condition is stable, the DMHO added.