Rajasthan: Nurses pull baby too hard, leave head inside womb
In what comes as a stomach-churning news, a male nurse at a government health center in Rajasthan pulled an infant so hard during delivery, earlier this week, that the baby got decapitated and the head was left inside the womb. The mother is currently fighting for her life in another hospital, while a case has been registered against two nurses. Here's what went down.
Accused tried to cover crime, deposited fetus' lower-part to mortuary
The horrific incident occurred on January 6 at a government hospital in Ramgarh. Making things worse, the male nurse and his colleague tried to cover up their crime. After the botched up delivery, they deposited the lower part of the fetus at the hospital's mortuary and asked the woman, Dikhsha Kanwar's family to admit her in another hospital in Jaisalmer.
Jaisalmer-hospital doctor sensed something wrong, referred woman to another hospital
The gynecologist at Jawahar Hospital at Jaisalmer, Dr. Ravindra Sankhla, told media that the staff at Ramgarh health center informed him that they had finished the delivery but left the placenta in the womb. Shukla realized something was wrong while trying to take out the placenta from the womb. He then stabilized the mother's health and referred her to Ummed Hospital in Jodhpur.
Woman is now fighting for her life at Jodhpur hospital
Thereafter, Ummed Hospital doctors conducted an operation and found the fetus' head in the womb. They then informed the woman's family members. Dikhsha is now fighting for her life. Dr. Usha Duggad, principal medical officer at Jawahar Hospital said it was the rarest of the rare case and that it's the first time she has witnessed something like this in her 30-year long career.
Nurses' act also burst liver and fractured baby's legs
Dr. Surendra Duggar, who conducted the postmortem at Jawahar Hospital, said he got the body in three pieces: head, torso, and placenta. He said apart from decapitating, the nurses did more damage to the baby. "They applied so much force that it not only broke the fetus into two parts, but also caused multiple fractures in legs and burst the liver," he said.
Doctor cannot fully determine the exact cause of baby's death
Dr. Duggar said that they carried out a floating test of lungs, which revealed that the baby was dead. He, however, was not able to determine the exact cause of the death. "It could be due to the pull by nursing staff with much force or any other other reason, which can be ascertained by the sonography report before the delivery," he said.
Nurses suspended, health center's in-charge removed from active duty
Meanwhile, Dr. Nikhil Sharma, who is in charge of Ramgarh community health center, told media that he wasn't around at the time of the delivery. He added that the medical staff went on with the delivery instead of informing him. The two male nurses- Amritlal and Junjhar Singh have been suspended and Dr. Sharma has been removed from active duty.
Nurses were not skilled enough to conduct deliveries
Dr. B L Bunkar, chief medical and health officer at Jaisalmer, said the two male nurses were not birth attendants. According to government norms, only skilled birth attendants are allowed to conduct deliveries. Rajasthan health minister, Raghu Sharma, said strict action will be taken against everyone found responsible. The boy's family refused to bury him today as they called for the nurses' arrest.
Police said no arrests have been made so far
Tilok Bhati, Dikhsha's husband, has lodged a complaint against the two nurses, adding that they were drunk during the delivery. Jalam Singh, sub-inspector and investigating officer of the case, told media, "When questioned, the hospital staffers handed over the lower part of the fetus to us." He said a case has been registered against the two but no arrest has been made so far.
