Dead foetus kept in womb ‘for 22 hours’ in Maharashtra’s Beed; health dept. forms committee to probe

A case of alleged medical negligence has come to light in Maharashtra’s Beed district, where a pregnant woman from Parli taluka reportedly carried a dead foetus in her womb for 22 hours.

The incident occurred two weeks ago, on April 23, after the pregnant woman visited a hospital over complaints of uneasiness and pain. The family of the survivor has alleged that the doctor attempted to hide the negligence and gain financial benefits. 

The complaint letter is written to the Beed district collector, Parli police station, Sub-district hospital, and district health officer, citing that due to doctors’ “inexcusable negligence and carelessness, not only did the unborn baby die, but the mother’s life was also put in danger for 22 hours”.

The doctor identified is Kalpana Gite, the survivor’s gynaecologist. 

“All was normal on April 22 during my sister-in-law’s check-up. On April 23, she called the doctor and told her about the pain. The doctor asked her to come immediately. She was given saline on arrival, and the doctor visited two hours later. During the visit, she was asked to get the sonography from the nearby diagnostic centre despite having an in-house sonography facility. After the test, she declared the baby is dead. She was admitted for removing the fetus, but it took them 22 hours for a cesarean,” said Sambhaji Munde, a Parli resident and brother-in-law of the survivor. 

The family raised the concerns after two weeks as the survivor was suffering from the mental trauma of losing a child, Mr. Sambhaji added.

Her spouse Vaijnath Munde said: “After paying ₹25000, my wife’s operation was done. She struggled the entire night with pain and discomfort. The doctor did not turn up. This is inhuman. I want the police to take our complaint, only after verifying the calls with the doctor, CCTV footage, and conduction thorough investigation.”

The Munde family raised concerns with the police station, but case has allegedly not been filed.

District Health Officer Satish Salunke said he has received the complaint about the hospital’s practices. “We have received the complaint, and these are serious regulations,” he said, adding that a four-member committee has been formed to investigate the matter.

“We have been instructed to present the result as soon as possible,” Mr. Salunke said.

The Hindu received no response by the Beed Superintendent of Police and other officials about the case. 

Doctor dismissed allegations

Meanwhilw, Dr. Kalpana Gite has dismissed the allegations. “We went by the books and tried for a normal delivery. But when it did not happen, we opted for C-section for which the relatives were not giving consent.” 

“They gave consent when one of their relative, who was a doctor checked and realised it needed C-section,” she added.

Dr. Kalpana also dismissed the negligence allegations as she claimed that the patient came to the hospital at 3 p.m., when she had been vomiting since 10 a.m. “I first managed her BP, gave IV fluids then checked baby’s heartbeat. When I realised heartbeats are not there, I got sonography done by the radiologist,” she added.