Kolkata hospital in a soup as 'dead' baby found alive

A TRAGIC EVENT: News of her stillborn child devastated Sangita Das.

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Keywords: Baby, Woman

Kolkata: In a case of glaring medical negligence Kolkata's premier hospital Belle Vue Clinic is under the scanner after the parents of a baby born there alleged that their baby was declared dead at 0120 hrs IST on Wednesday by a doctor.

News of her stillborn child devastated Sangita Das early Wednesday morning and authorities at the Belle Vue Clinic allegedly went ahead and made funeral preparations.

But to the horror of the Das family, doctors found the baby breathing 10 hours after it was declared stillborn.

"They said the baby was stillborn. I wasn't even shown the baby and now they tell us the baby is alive," the mother Sangita Das said.

"They told my wife the baby was dead at 1:30 am. At 9am I was told the same and now they even made funeral arrangements. But now I see the baby is alive. I mean we kept the baby at Belle Vue for this?" father of the child Manas Das asked.

Belle Vue insisted that the baby showed no signs of life after the first few hours of delivery.

"The baby did not show any movement for the prescribed three-four hours that we observe. The RMO was present and qualified nurses too were present. We did not do anything untoward," P Tandon, CEO Belle Vue Clinic, said.

The parents have filed a case of medical negligence against the hospital. The newborn is now being treated at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI).

"The baby is on ventilation, and also on antibiotics. Eco cardiogram is monitoring heartbeat regularly. Blood samples have been sent for exam and the baby has 50-50 chances of survival. The baby was born 16 weeks premature. So it was like an abortion. But health of baby hasn't deteriorated," Dr S Acharya and Dr K Acharya said.

The words of the doctors at the CMRI have given little solace to the Das family.

While the baby battles for life, the Belle Vue Clinic will now have to fight another kind of battle.

A battle to preserve its reputation as a premier medical institution in case the medical board decides that it is a case of medical negligence.

As for the Das family the next few hours remain critical, as their newborn is monitored at CMRI.

(With inputs from Sukarno Sen)