Declared dead by pvt hospital, newborn found to be alive at Civil Hospital

The Tibba police have initiated a probe into an incident in which a migrant couple has accused staff of a city private hospital of causing the death of their newborn child due to negligence.

Allegedly declared as stillbirth by the hospital authorities, the newborn was found to be alive by doctors at the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana. However, the child breathed his last after about 40-minute treatment.

The Tibba police, led by SHO Jaspal Singh, had swung into action after receiving information about a ruckus allegedly created by relatives and friends of the child’s parents.

In a complaint filed with the police, Ashu, the child’s father, alleged that doctors had handed over them a skinny child kept in a tray after declaring it dead, shortly after his wife Payal gave birth to the baby.

“Having observed signs of life in the child, we took him to the Civil Hospital where doctors started his treatment,” he said, adding that heartbeat was also felt when the family was taking the baby to crematorium for burial.

The family had demanded justice and strict action against the private hospital for allegedly causing the death of their child.

SHO Jaspal Singh said a probe had been initiated into a sequence of events leading to the death of the child and legal action would be taken against the hospital on the basis of findings of the inquiry, scheduled to be conducted by Civil Hospital SMO Harpreet Singh.