Enraged parents blame nurses for newborn’s death

KATHMANDU, Sept 15: The death of a newborn, who was found alive just before burial even after the Bheri Hospital pronounced her “dead”, has enraged her parents and relatives.

Kamala Adhikari, 20, of Chedagad-9, Jajarkot had given birth to the girl on Friday morning. Minutes later the baby was born, the hospital had declared the baby girl “dead” and handed her to her parents.

But, as her father Milan Adhikari was about to cremate her, she was found alive and immediately rushed to the hospital. She died in the evening while undergoing treatment at the ICU.

The family and relatives of the infants have staged protest in front of the hospital since Saturday morning blaming sheer negligence of the hospital for the newborn’s death.

The hospital later maintained that the baby was born “premature” and “extremely low birth weight” thus was difficult to evaluate the physical condition of the baby. According to a press release by the hospital, the child was born after 23 weeks of conception and weighs 600 grams.

The hospital has also maintained that the baby “expelled itself and showed no activity at the time of birth. The baby had no pulsation in cord and her condition did not improve when stimulated on back and feet”.

“The hospital is defending itself. The negligence of the nurses and staffers at the maternity ward are responsible for the death of my baby,” the father vented ire.

The health condition of the baby had improved gruadually after she was brought back to the hospital from the burial site but could not survive.

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Pronounced ‘dead’ by hospital, newborn comes alive before burial