Karnataka - Belgaum   

Inquiry ordered into death of newborn twins

Staff Correspondent

Hospital staff reportedly did not inform the family of their death

BELGAUM: District Surgeon P.S. Veerabhadrappa has ordered an inquiry into the alleged negligence on the part of doctors and staff of the maternity ward of the district Government Hospital in the city in a case related to the death of a mother and her twins on Sunday and Monday.

According to reliable sources, 20-year-old Nagavva, wife of Somappa Honyal of K.K. Koppa village in Belgaum taluk, was admitted to the maternity ward on Sunday. She died after giving birth to twins. Her relatives took the body to her native place for the last rites leaving the newborn babies under the care of the hospital staff in the Intensive Care Unit.

Both babies died on Monday, but the hospital staff reportedly did not inform the family members and allegedly "dumped" the bodies in the mortuary. The relatives were informed of their death only on Wednesday. Enraged with the attitude of the doctors and suspecting a case of death owing to negligence, about twenty persons from the village rushed to the hospital demanding action against the doctors and staff concerned.

Dr. Veerabhadrappa told The Hindu that Nagavva died before being brought to the hospital as it was case of premature delivery. Since it was the case of premature delivery, the condition of the newborn babies was also critical, he added. One of the two babies died on Monday morning and it was handed over to the relatives the same day, he said. The other one died later in the evening, but the staff did not inform the relatives about the death immediately. An inquiry has been ordered into the matter, he said.

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