Mumbai: Even after undergoing a sterilization operation and medical termination of a pregnancy, Deepa Yashwant, a resident of Kurla, has to carry an unwanted foetus. The surgeries were performed by a gynaecologist of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital.
The 26-year-old is a mother of two children and lives below the poverty line: that explained her decision to abort the third child and she accordingly underwent tubectomy on June 12, 2017.
“I have two children — six and nine years of age, respectively – and we are financially not in a very good condition. A third child would have been an additional burden. So, when I got to know that I am pregnant, the family decided to abort the child; it was also agreed that I would undergo a vasectomy,” she added.
She got the needful done when she was two months pregnant but discovered a little later to her surprise that the medical termination of the pregnancy and the surgery had not yielded the desired results, and that she was still pregnant.
“Now, I am six months pregnant and I have no option but to give birth, as it would be illegal to abort the child,” said Deepa. Asked why it took her some time to realise that she was still pregnant, she said, “After the surgeries, I was menstruating for a month. But when I did not do so for two consecutive months and the stomach started swelling, I realised something is amiss and again went to the hospital for a check-up. Then, they confirmed that I am still carrying the child,” said Deepa.
She further stated that even after several complaints, the hospital authorities are not ready to take any responsibility for the alleged goof-up. The head of the gynaecology department of Sion Hospital, Dr Niranjan N Chavan, refused to comment on this case. “I am not allowed to say anything on this issue,” he said. Gynaecologists FPJ talked with said that this is a very rare case; only one out of 200 women will become pregnant after tubal ligation.
