Mumbai: Malad couple loses baby within hours of birth, blames hospital

Apte Maternity Hospital at Tank Lane, Orlem, Malad West

A Malad-based couple - Kalpesh Shinde, 35, and his wife, Shreya - were looking forward to welcoming their second child when things went awry and the newborn died within hours of his birth. Shinde, however, blames the Apte Maternity Hospital administration for the child's death as according to him, they did not heed to his wife's request for a c-section and also the doctor in-charge delayed the process. Based on this he filed a police complaint for medical negligence.

'She was in pain'

Since Shinde's daughter was born at the same hospital, he decided to consult gynaecologist Dr Arun Apte. He took his wife to the hospital a day before the delivery date (August 16) after she went into labour. "I admitted her at 8 am. Dr Apte examined her and gave her medicines to induce labour. He asked us to wait until she became more dilated to deliver and said he would return in six hours," said Shinde.

Sadanand Pujari and his wife Shalini

By 3 pm Shreya started experiencing a lot of pain and Shinde asked the nurses to inform the doctor. "The nurses didn't inform Dr Apte. Dr Smita Gavai, a junior doctor, arrived after 6 pm. She spoke rudely to my wife. When my wife begged for a caesarean section, she refused and asked her whether she had too much money to spare," said Shinde.

'He couldn't breathe'

Shinde alleged that Dr Gavai delayed the delivery and said that when the baby was finally born with the help of a vacuum pump, his heartbeat was weak and he wasn't able to breathe. "They tried to stabilise him and said that we would have to shift the baby to an NICU in another hospital. I admitted my baby at Evershine Nagar Children Hospital where the doctors said he was in a critical condition. At 5:30 am the next day, the doctors called me and said my baby had died," he added.
He further claimed that the doctors told him that a delay in delivery might have caused breathing difficulties for the newborn. "If Dr Apte had come to check on my wife on time, he could have done the c-section and saved my baby. Dr Gavai knew nothing about my wife's case," he said. Moreover, during delivery, Shinde said Shreya had complained of cramps in her leg, which went unheard. "Now she is not being able to move her left leg," he added.

Kalpesh Sinde with his wife Shreya. Pic/Nimesh Dave

A similar case

Shinde isn't the only patient to complain about this alleged negligence at the maternity hospital. After he got in touch with Sadanand Pujari, 44, he got to know that the latter had a similar experience with the hospital 12 years back.

In August 2009, while delivering their son, Pujari's wife suffered paralysis of her left leg due to a complication of the anesthetic injection. "My wife had a c-section and despite being given anesthesia, she was semi-conscious. The doctors had assured us that she would become normal after 15 days of physiotherapy, but even now she can't go to the market," said Pujari.

He had also complained to the Malad police after which his case was sent to the JJ Hospital committee. However, it didn't recommend action against the hospital. He had even complained to the Maharashtra Medical Council but is yet to get a formal reply from them.

'Docs blamed for everything'

Denying the allegations, Dr Apte said, "When things go well, doctors are considered to be god. But when things go wrong, people blame us for everything. I rushed down when I heard about Pujari's wife's case. The child specialist was there 20 minutes before delivery and Dr Gavai is a qualified doctor with 10 years of experience. She has worked with me for five years. We feel bad for what happened but we did our best." About the loss of sensation in her leg, Dr Apte said it was due to compression of nerves during delivery and added that she was recovering well. When contacted, senior inspector, George Fernandes confirmed the complaint and said, "We are taking the statements of the doctors after which we will forward it to the committee at JJ Hospital. Based on their decision, we'll take further action."

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