Newborn found alive before burial dies

Baby was declared dead at Safdarjung on Sunday; family alleges medical negligence

Murky case: The baby’s grandparents alleged that the way the body was wrapped in layers of newspaper and plastic choked the baby.

It was nothing short of a miracle when a premature baby who was declared dead at Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday was found alive. This relief, however, was short-lived as the baby was declared dead on Monday.

The family said the baby would have had a chance at survival had the doctors not been in a rush to declare him dead. They said the newborn was wrapped in layers of newspapers and plastic, choking him.

Aborted foetus: hospital

The hospital, meanwhile, maintained that it was an aborted foetus.

“How do you explain the baby breathing and moving later?” said Uttara, the baby’s paternal aunt. Rohit’s wife Shanti had delivered the baby on Sunday morning, only to be told a while later that the child hadn’t survive, the family said.

According to Uttara and her father Kalliram, the way the body was wrapped barely left any room for the baby to breathe.

What made matters worse was the long commute from the hospital in south Delhi to the family’s house in Badarpur’s Bilaspur Camp, which is connected to the nearest road by a non-metalled stretch of about a kilometre.

Body wrapped in layers

“The body was wrapped in layers with the mouth taped, leaving hardly any space for air to enter. We brought the baby home presuming it was dead. It was when we were taking the body for burial that my mother expressed the wish to see the baby one last time. When we opened the bag, the boy was breathing. It was a miracle,” said Uttara.

The baby began crying when the family decided to click a picture with a mobile camera. The flash caused the baby to cry, fuelling hope in the family, who then filmed the visibly alive baby.

Case registered

A phone call to the police followed, after which the baby was taken back to Safdarjung Hospital where he was kept in an warmer. He died around 4.10 p.m. on Monday, said Dr. A.K. Rai, Medical Superintendent.

Asked if the death of the baby was ground enough to register a case, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south-east) Romil Baaniya said they had forwarded the complaint to the Medical Council of India (MCI) and would wait for a response.

“We will take a supplementary statement from the parents and send it to the MCI. Their internal inquiry will establish if there was medical negligence or not. If yes, we will register a case,” the DCP said.

When asked when the report would be submitted, Mr. Baaniya said there was no fixed time by when it was expected. It varies from case to case, he added.