Kin allege medical negligence after mother, newborn die

A mother and her newborn baby died at a hospital on Sunday, triggering protest by her family, who alleged negligence on the part of the medical staff of another hospital.

The mother was shifted from the Rajarajeshwari Medical College Hospital, after her condition worsened, to the BGS Hospital on Sunday, where she died.

On Monday, the family members of the patient staged a protest in front of the Rajarajeshwari hospital, off Mysore Road, holding the hospital responsible for the deaths.

About 15 members of the family shouted slogans and claimed that inappropriate treatment led to the death of the mother and the baby.

Meanwhile, Dr Naveen Shivappa, principal, Rajarajeshwari Medical College Hospital, said the patient had complications previously, and in some rare cases, it would lead to death.

“She was a known hypertensive. She had developed Preeclampsia (a condition during pregnancy where there is a sudden rise in blood pressure and the presence of urine in the blood),” Shivappa said. Dr Shivappa said they had to perform a C-section to save the child and mother.

“The child was 24-week-old and had not even developed its lungs. It weighed just 450 grams. The mother also had bleeding from the liver. The family insisted on shifting her to another private hospital where she died,” he explained.

The doctors also said even as they had insisted that the family get the patient admitted early, they did so only after the blood pressure shot up.

A police complaint has been lodged.