Newborn fighting for life after being declared stillborn

Mumbai: A prematurely born baby declared stillborn by a resident doctor at the state-run Sion Hospital on Monday night startled family members with her cries as they proceeded to a cemetery for the last rites.

The infant is now fighting for her life at the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit even as the authorities have launched an inquiry into the incident.

"The baby is premature by six weeks or so. She has been put on a ventilator and is in critical condition. Her mother, however, is doing well," Dr Sandya Kamath, the acting dean of the hospital, told Gulf News.

Asked if the case smacked of negligence, she said: "It is a case of irresponsibility."

The shocking sequence of events played out when seven-month pregnant Aruna Gaikwad (30) from Karjat, some 50 km from Sion, suffered convulsions and was rushed Sion Hospital on June 15 afternoon. She was first taken to other hospitals in Navi Mumbai which refused to admit her, said her husband Bhagwan, a daily wage-earner.

Aruna was given anti-hypertensive therapy and administered medication to induce labour in view of her high blood pressure and the convulsions she was suffering. The baby she delivered was declared stillborn after the resident doctor who examined her failed to detect a foetal heartbeat. A death certificate was promptly issued.

After nearly five hours, the infant, weighing just 1.4 kg, was taken away by relatives to Deonar for the funeral when, to their shock, the baby started crying. They rushed her back to the hospital where she was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Earlier, a doctor at the hospital said: "The mother was on a high dose of sedatives and the convulsions may have lulled the child."