The family of a newborn boy, who died in utero at a hospital in Noida, has alleged negligence on part of the hospital and its doctors. A case has been registered at Noida Sector 49 police station.

Ankit Garg, the baby’s father, has alleged negligence on part of the staff of Cloudnine Hospital in Noida’s Sector 51, in monitoring the condition of the baby while his wife was in labor.

Garg said that his wife Shweta Kashyap had been undergoing treatment there since December. Her due date was March 8 and the ultrasound on that day was fine. His wife started getting pains on March 9 around 8pm and they called the consulting doctor, Pratibha Singhal, and were advised to wait. He said that they lived far from the hospital, so they decided to leave from home.

Shweta’s pains increased as soon as they got in the car. It was 9.03pm and he called Dr Singhal again, who asked them to reach the emergency room. They reached there by 9.30pm and a nurse monitored the baby, who was doing well. The on-call doctor, Riteeka Sharma, was called who came by 10.10pm. By then, Shweta’s water broke. She said that a natural delivery would happen by 4-5am. Around 11.30pm, a sudden dip in the baby’s heart rate was noted by a nurse. Sharma was called who came at 12.10am and told them that a Cesarean section would be needed.

Garg mentioned that his wife was shifted to an operation theatre, which was unprepared. Dr Singhal came by 12.45am and within the next 10 minutes, they told him that the baby boy had died in utero. They delivered him at 1.04am. Garg said that no one seemed to know what went wrong in the span of three hours. “Had they been more vigilant, he might have lived,” Garg said.

Shweta was discharged from the hospital on Monday and the family filed a complaint with the Noida Sector 49 police station on Sunday. Vimal Kumar Singh, circle officer 3, said that a case has been registered under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code and evidence is being collected, which will be sent to the CMO. He will review it and ascertain whether there was negligence or not.

A hospital spokesperson said that they empathise with the grieving parents. The hospital delivered the best medical care to the patient. Information has been submitted to the authorities. The patient and the family did not allow the hospital to operate on Monday and mishandled the staff. The patient also declined to pay the bill. The case is being reviewed with the doctors and medical directors, said the spokesperson.