Mother is horrified to hear her anaesthetist answering his mobile phone during her C-section before using a computer to check a tennis appointment
- Woman recently had her baby via caesarean section at Auckland City Hospital
- She was outraged when doctor answered his phone midway through procedure
- She claims her husband saw anaesthetist use a computer to confirm tennis game
- Hospital spokeswoman said anaesthetists can use phone when it is work related
An outraged mother has described her shock when a doctor answered his phone midway through her caesarean section.
The woman claimed an anaesthetist at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand fielded private calls when she was having her third child via C-section.
Her husband also claimed he saw the anaesthetist use a computer to check a pending tennis appointment.
An outraged mother has described her shock when a doctor answered his phone midway through her caesarean section (stock image)
'I remember his phone ringing and him answering it and thinking "that's bizarre", especially because his job was to monitor my pain relief levels,' she told stuff.co.nz.
'The last two times [previous procedures] they checked my numbness multiple times. This guy didn't check it at all and I ended up on the laughing gas to get me through the end of the c-section.
'Thankfully I just had extra discomfort, rather than anything life threatening.'
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The mother-of-three felt it was reasonable for the doctor to give her his undivided attention during childbirth, before calling to be phones to be banned from the operating room as they can be a temptation.
A spokeswoman from the Auckland District Health Board said mobile phones were 'essential tools' for modern day clinicians.
'They enable our clinicians to communicate promptly and also access guidelines and other information that is essential to care for a patient,' she said.
The spokeswoman added anaesthetists were permitted to use their cellphones, discreetly as well as for work-related purposes.
Auckland City Hospital, where a doctor reportedly fielded personal calls when performing a C-section on a patient (stock image)
