‘4-hr delay caused my wife’s death’

The husband of a 31-year-old woman who died in childbirth on August 14 has accused the hospital of medical negligence. He claimed that she would have been alive had there not been a four-hour delay in shifting her to a better equipped hospital from the women’s hospital near Surdhara Circle where she had been admitted for delivery.

Julian Thomas (31), a bank manager and resident of Sweekar Tenament near Surdhara Circle, lodged a complaint of medical negligence against the doctors of Amin Hospital on August 14, the day his wife Durgesh Nandini (31) died.

Dr Meena and Dr Chirag Amin of Amin Hospital on the other hand said they had done everything possible to save the mother who suffered an extraordinary postpartum hemorrhage that led to the death.

Narrating the turn of events, Thomas said, “My wife went into labour early on August 14 and by 6 am we were at the hospital. At 10.30 am she delivered a boy and doctors said it was a normal delivery. It was a vacuum-assisted delivery.

“I was ecstatic and wanted to see my wife but was not allowed to see her. I was told that she under observation by the nurse.”

At about 11.15 am, he was told by Dr Meena and Dr Chirag Amin that she was bleeding and he would have to get two units of blood from a nearby laboratory. “I was informed that if bleeding did not stop they would have to remove the uterus. I gave them permission.”

Thomas said the surgery lasted until 1.30 pm by when another doctor had entered the OT. “This is when I began to feel that they had messed up somewhere. They kept telling me she was improving and stable as I went to collect blood four times to the nearby private blood bank. After the operation, Dr Meena and Dr Chirag called me inside the OT and told me the situation has improved.”

“But by around 2.25 pm they suddenly decided to shift my wife to a bigger hospital for what they called ‘postoperative care’. The ICU on wheels that came at about 3pm refused to take my wife,” said Thomas. He stated that he barged into the ICU, only to find his wife’s vitals faltering. “She had been placed on a ventilator and CPR was being administered. Until then no one told us that she was serious. By then there was four-and-a-half-hour delay. It was a super case of negligence,” he said.

He alleged that Dr Chirag Amin had said “Aapko samajhna hain to samjho”.

Thomas further alleged that they did not give him his wife’s file of allow him to see the originals claiming they had to show it to their lawyer.

Dr Meena Amin said, “After the delivery of Mrs Durgesh Nandini, there was profuse blood loss, primarily identified as failure of natural process of uterine contraction (PPH). All possible efforts were made by a team of 5 doctors for six hours to save patient’s life. The hospital informed police and asked for a postmortem report which can give further information. Later on sixth day histopathology report of uterus indicated Placenta Increta as cause of severe PPH Dr Chirag Amin said, “Placenta Increta is a known cause for death.”

PSI MJ Hun, in-charge of Thaltej Police Chowki and Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, said, “Soon after the death on August 14, we got the panchnama done. We filed an accidental death report wherein the family members of the deceased alleged that the woman died in childbirth due to negligence of the doctors.” He added, “By the time these processes were done and the body was taken to GMERS Medical College and Hospital in Sola, it was already evening, so the post mortem could not take place.” He said they had recommended a panel post postmortem which took place on August 15.

He said that if the report suggests negligence, they will register an FIR.