Minister for Medical Education Sharanprakashpatil on Monday clarified that it was not medical negligence that led to the death of mothers at Vani Vilas in Bengaluru and Cheluvamba hospital in Mysuru.

“The women who died had other medical complications and were rushed to hospital only at the last minute when things had gone out of hand,” he said.

Twelve mothers had died in Cheluvamba hospital and 10 in Vani Vilas between November 7 and 18 last year.

Following this, a three-member committee was formed by the State government to look into the causes of the deaths. The committee had recently submitted the report to the minister. It had also pointed out several shortcomings in the two hospitals.

According to the report, the labour rooms in these hospitals did not even have ventilators and monitors. Also, the drugs administered to patients were found to be substandard.

However, the committee clarified that the deaths did not occur due to these drugs either.

“We will consider the recommendations of the committee and have ventilators and other essential facilities in these hospitals,” Patil said.

Patil said five women had died in Cheluvamba hospital due to multiple organ failure, while the others had complications such as low platelet count, respiratory problem and gynaecological complications. “The committee has said that as there were shortcomings such as lack of ventilators at the spot, not much could be done even as the doctors tried their best,” he said.

In Vani Vilas Hospital, Patil said, eight of the 10 deaths had occurred either due to high blood pressure during pregnancy or HELLP syndrome (a kind of pre-eclampsia characterised by high BP during pregnancy and protein in urine). The others, he said, had died of multiple complications.

“It is unfortunate that such deaths have occurred in the two hospitals. They should not happen again,” he said.