Shillong: Following allegations of negligence by Nongpoh Civil Hospital that allegedly led to the death of a newborn in a toilet, Meghalaya Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Tuesday clarified that the media failed to verify facts before publishing the news.
She emphasised that the 19-week pregnant woman involved had received necessary attention and treatment.
Lyngdoh stated that the woman, who was from Umden, was 19 weeks pregnant and had been experiencing cramps, indicating a potential spontaneous abortion.
The woman was referred to Nongpoh by the Umden PHC. Upon arrival at Nongpoh, she was immediately attended to by doctors at 3 AM. Later, during the regular OPD hours, she was seen by doctors again.
“She was under proper medical treatment, she wanted to visit the toilet, and in the toilet, she apparently had a sudden cramp, which resulted in the abortion of the foetus that was 19 weeks old. It’s not as if the patient was not receiving the necessary attention and treatment. This 19-week-old fetus, it would have been difficult to make the fetus survive. I can understand the pain that the family is going through. I understand the feeling of loss. I send my condolences to this family, but clearly there was no malpractice, there was no ignorance of leaving this patient outside of medical care,” the health minister said.
Lyngdoh added that further inquiries are being conducted to determine whether ambulance services were available. “If not, we will investigate the reason,” she said.
The minister also urged the media to be cautious when reporting sensitive cases like this.
“It appeared as if a full-term newborn had died due to negligence, which was not the case. We must be careful when publishing such information,” Lyngdoh stressed.
She also informed that the Chief Minister’s Save Motherhood Scheme is operational across all health centres in the state. The minister is expected to hold a press conference on September 26 to provide more details from the inquiry.
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