The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation set up a committee on Tuesday, May 1st, 2024, to probe the tragic death of a 26-year-old, Saheedun Nisa Ansari, and her newborn on Monday night at the BMC-run Sushma Swaraj Maternity Home in Bhandup West, after the doctors performed a C-Section under the flashlight of mobile phones.

By forming a maternal mortality committee to look into the circumstances surrounding their deaths as a result of the maternity home's blatant carelessness, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has moved quickly. The relatives of the dead expressed concerns about what they considered to be inadequate amenities at the Sushma Swaraj maternity home. They specifically brought up the need for torches during delivery as a result of a purported shortage of electricity.

Ansari, who had been married to Sahidun for 11 months and lived in the Bhandup neighborhood, was admitted to the Sushma Swaraj maternity home in Hanuman Nagar. On the evening of April 29, she gave birth to her first child. The baby was declared dead immediately after birth on April 30, at approximately 12:30 am, despite attempts.

The mother was then taken to the LTMG Sion hospital, where she passed away thereafter. The local council reportedly also established a commission to look into the woman's and her newborn child's deaths.

According to Sahidun's brother-in-law, Sharukh Ansari, initially, the plan was for a normal delivery. However, due to the baby's low heartbeat, the medical team decided to perform a cesarean section. "Despite the lack of adequate lighting, they proceeded with the operation using a handheld torch. Although other hospital options were available, the doctors chose to continue with the procedure under risky conditions," he said as quoted by Free Press Journal.

Regretfully, the woman suffered from acute hemorrhage, which played a major role in her untimely death. After the baby died, the Dean and the doctors agreed, rather belatedly, to move her to Sion Hospital.

The family members assert that the woman enjoyed good health throughout her nine-month pregnancy. "She was in perfect health throughout the entire nine months, without any medical concerns. How is it then that she was declared deceased on the very night we brought her to the hospital for delivery? If this is the standard of facilities provided, what purpose does a government hospital serve?" questioned Saheedun's brother.

Khusruddin Ansari, husband of Saheedun Nisa, said, “My wife was in pain the whole day and the staff didn’t allow us to be there with us. This irresponsible delay in her treatment is the cause of everything. Had they informed us earlier to take her to Sion, both of them would have been alive today.”

Regarding the health of her daughter-in-law, the mother-in-law stated that she was in perfect health and that everything according to her reports was also OK. She also mentioned that the physicians continued to predict a normal birth for her daughter-in-law, who had been hospitalized on Monday at 7 a.m. and detained until 8 p.m.

She added, “Then, when I went to meet her, I saw that she was covered in blood. They had made an incision and then came to get a signature saying she had suffered a fit and a C-section was needed."

"That's when the power went out and they did not send us to another hospital even after that. They took us to the operation theatre and did the delivery with the help of a phone torch. The child died and, when we cried, the doctor said the mother would survive. They referred us to Sion Hospital, but she had died by then. There was no oxygen available either," the mother-in-law added as quoted by NDTV.

A senior doctor from the maternity hospital, who remained anonymous also spoke on the power outage and added that there was an issue with the generator. “Surgery was almost done when the electricity went off. They had to rely on the torch as the generator gave problems. It is not the doctor’s fault. The generator was repaired on the same day. The engineer had visited the hospital to check on the generator the previous day also," the doctor said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Dr Daksha Shah, Dy Executive Health Officer of the BMC said, “A committee consisting of a gynecologist, a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, and a few other officials has been constituted to examine this case from all aspects. The committee is to meet May 2 but we need a week’s time to come to any decision.”

Former BJP corporator for BMC Jagruti Patil accused hospital authorities of neglect and lodged a case at Bhandup Police Station against BMC officials.

Patil said that she had previously been the recipient of complaints regarding hospital administration malpractice. According to PSI Raghunath Ayare of the Bhandup Police Station, an inquiry is underway following the receipt of a complaint.

BJP's former corporator Jagruti Patil said, "This hospital has a history of numerous such incidents, yet there seems to be no oversight on the irresponsibility and negligence of the hospital staff. On the day the patient was admitted, there were already 7 to 8 instances of power outages. The hospital staff informed us that the hospital generator had been malfunctioning since April 27th. Despite this, they continued admitting patients. Most distressingly, while Saheedun lost her life, another baby was being delivered under torchlight right beside her. People resort to government hospitals because private hospitals charge exorbitant amounts. Seeing this incident, I can't help but feel that the poor are denied even the basic right to a safe birth."

Dr. Avinash Waydande, the medical officer of the S ward at BMC, stated, "Following the receipt of the complaint, a committee has been promptly established by senior authorities. A meeting will be convened shortly to conduct a thorough inquiry, after which appropriate action will be taken in accordance with the findings."

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior medical official from the maternity hospital confirmed that there had been a brief interruption in the electrical supply during the surgery, which he attributed to problems with the facility's generator. They stressed that despite difficult conditions, the medical staff worked tirelessly to quickly fix the generator issue. A thorough review of the healthcare system and established standards has been triggered by the unfortunate occurrence, highlighting the necessity of strict measures to avoid such occurrences.

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