Woman delivers stillborn, doctor booked for negligence

GREATER NOIDA: A Greater Noida-based couple has lodged a complaint at Sector 49 police station, alleging that negligence of a doctor of Cloudnine Hospital had led the woman to deliver a stillborn on March 9,
The couple has alleged that Dr. Pratibha Singhal, who was supposed to do the delivery, arrived late by over 2 hours, in turn delaying the surgery. They also lodged a complaint with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on April 4, after which it sought a report from the district magistrate in seven days.
According to the commission, the DM was supposed to give a report by May 9, but there has been no response yet. Ankit had complained that his wife had crossed her due date but there was no doctor available at the hospital. “Around 9.30 pm, Shweta’s labour pain started. I immediately called the doctor who had been treating my wife. She said everything was normal. However, I had requested her to come to the hospital,” Ankit told TOI.
He added, “When we reached the hospital, a junior doctor examined her and at 10.15 am she said both the mother and the baby were fine and asked us to wait for the doctor.”
Ankit added that his wife was left unattended till 11.30 am. His wife delivered a stillborn around noon. An FIR was registered against Dr. Singhal and junior doctor Ritika Sharma under Section 304A (causing death due to negligence) of IPC. Dr. Singhal said there was no negligence from her side. “The entire thing happened so fast that we could not control it. At 10.30 am, the mother’s heartbeat was fine but at 11.30 am, it dipped sharply. Around 30-40% such deaths happen in this way,” she said.
A hospital spokesperson said, “We have supported all the authorities with the requisite information. The patient was attended to without any delay.”
The DM said he was unaware of the repoert . “I don’t know about the letter from NCPCR. However, I will file the report soon,” said BN Singh, the DM.