MANDI/Sundernagar (Munish Sood)
A tragic incident has unfolded at the Civil Hospital in Sundernagar in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh where a newborn baby died following an alleged negligent delivery process.
The baby’s parents, Dhani Ram and Archana from Daddoh village, have raised serious allegations of malpractice and negligence against the hospital staff.
According to the complainants, Archana was admitted to the hospital on December 18 for delivery. Despite enduring 26 hours of labor pains, there was no immediate attention given to her condition.
Despite her family’s repeated requests for a C-section, the hospital proceeded with a normal delivery. When the baby failed to be delivered, Archana claims that nurses forcibly pressed on her abdomen to extract the baby.
When the baby was finally born on December 19, it showed no signs of life and doctors immediately referred the woman and the child to the Medical College at Nerchowk for further treatment.
Despite efforts to save the baby, all its organs failed, leading to its death on December 23. The family has alleged that prior to the delivery, all of Archana’s prenatal tests had been normal, and they believe that “negligence during the delivery process led to the infant’s death”.
The parents have now appealed to the government for a thorough investigation into the matter, demanding that strict action be taken against the hospital staff responsible for the apparent mishandling of the delivery.
They have filed complaints with the Chief Minister’s Seva Sankalp portal as well as sent emails to various authorities, including Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, MLA Vinod Kumar and Sundernagar MLA Rakesh Jamwal, calling for accountability.
In response to the allegations, Mandi CMO Dr Narendra Bhardwaj confirmed that the family had submitted their complaint to the SMO in Sundernagar, and that an investigation was underway.
