A Baby Was Found Alive After Declared Dead by a Team of Doctors

WARANGAL: Tension prevailed at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial(MGM) Hospital, the third biggest government hospital in Telangana, here on Sunday after a premature baby declared dead by a team of doctors allegedly showed movements minutes before the burial.

The shocked parents and relatives rushed the baby back to MGM Hospital and pulled up the doctors.The medical staff, however, maintained that the baby was certified as dead after a thorough examination.

The parents and relatives staged protest in the hospital before they were convinced by senior doctors that the baby might have showed muscle movements either as part of rigor mortis (stiffening of muscles) or under the influence of medication the infant was subjected to as part of treatment.

As tension mounted, police rushed to the hospital. The baby was later buried. MGM Hospital is the biggest government hospital in Telangana after Osmania and Gandhi Hospitals in Hyderabad.

According to police, Swapna, wife of Mekala Srinivas, resident of Pegadapally village of Hasanparthy mandal in Warangal Urban district, delivered a premature girl child at a private hospital at Hanamkonda on June 30. As the private hospital did not have facilities to take care of premature babies, she was referred to MGM Hospital. The baby, born in the eighth month of pregnancy, was underweight.

The baby was admitted to MGM Hospital the same day. The infant was declared dead on Sunday morning. The parents took the baby to their native place for burial. While conducting the final rites, the parents observed some movements in the baby.

The parents then took the baby to MGM Hospital with the hope that the baby is alive. Doctors conducted tests including ECG and stood their ground that the baby had died in the morning. The enraged relatives pulled up the doctors for “declaring a living baby dead“.

They alleged that the doctors had deliberately declared the baby dead as they wanted to send them out of the hospital.

Dr Ajmera Bhoja and Dr Syed Sirajuddin, duty doctors at MGM Hospital, attempted to convince the parents. They told them that the movement in the baby may have been due to medical reasons. The parents and relatives relented and withdrew their protest after senior medical staff intervened.

Source: Health Economics Times