On Sunday, a 22-week-old premature baby, weighing under 500 grams, was reportedly declared dead by doctors at Safdarjung Hospital. The child was found alive, once the family started making preparations for the burial. The hospital officials have made an inquiry to look into the matter and find out why the baby was declared dead and handed over to the parents.
Confirming the incident, Dr AK Rai, Medical Superintendent, Safdarjung Hospital, said there was “no medical negligence”. He added that an enquiry has been made as to why the baby was declared dead.
“The baby weighed 460 grams. As per WHO guidelines, such children don’t survive and are not supposed to be revived. Hence, there is no medical negligence on part of the doctors. However, even if the baby did not cry and was motionless, staff should have checked if the baby was alive. We will conduct an inquiry into the matter,” Dr Rai said.
The father said the nursing staff had told him that the baby was not breathing and they were handed a ‘sealed packet.’
“We had started to make arrangements for the funeral when we found that the limbs were moving. When we opened the packet, we could see the baby breathing. We made a PCR call and rushed to Apollo Hospital,” the father said.
Police said that the child’s family did not want any legal action in this case.
“The woman came to the hospital bleeding. Under WHO guidelines, this is a case of abortion; we consider a case an abortion if it is either a 20-week pregnancy or if the baby weighs under 500 gms. In such cases, there is no revival. The baby has been kept in the nursery. However, there are no chances of survival. But staff should have waited before declaring the baby dead,” she said.
