Woman dies after giving birth as doctors leave cotton wad in abdomen

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A 24-year-old woman died on Wednesday after doctors at Vriddhachalam government hospital left a cotton wad in her abdomen during a Caesarean section, in Cuddalore district.

The deceased was identified as R Priya, wife of V Rajkumar, 26, from a village near Vriddhachalam, a Times of India report read.

According to the police, Priya experienced labour pain on December 27 and was rushed to the hospital. The same night, she gave birth to a girl after doctors performed a Caesarean section.

However, after the surgery, Priya complained of severe stomach ache and on December 31, her condition worsened. She was then shifted to Jimper, where doctors suspected that she may be suffering from severe sepsis, a serious condition due to the presence of foreign particles in the body and the body's response to it, the report said.

The doctors then performed laparotomy and found a mass of inflated tissues with pus. After removing the pus, they found a cotton wad in her abdomen. Cotton wads are generally used to clean the body during surgeries. Priya, whose condition was already critical, died due to the infection.

The report said, on Thursday, a team comprising health department additional director and joint director from Chennai and a joint director from Cuddalore visited the Vriddhachalam government hospital and made preliminary inquiries.

"We have issued a showcause notice to the staff seeking an explanation. We will initiate departmental action based on the replies and findings of our inquriry," Ramesh Babu, Cuddalore joint director (health) was quoted as saying in the report.

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