Doctors Allegedly Leave Towel Inside Woman’s Womb During Cesarean Delivery, Probe Underway

In a case of negligence, doctors allegedly left a towel inside the womb of a woman in India during her cesarean operation.

The incident took place in the northern state of Punjab. On Dec. 7, the woman's husband brought her to the civil hospital in Ludhiana after she developed labor pain, following which doctors conducted some medical tests and recommended a C-section.

The surgery was performed the next day. The newborn baby was doing well but the mother complained of acute abdominal pain after the operation, the Mid-Day reported.

“When the pain did not subside for two days, I urged the hospital to refer us to a private hospital but they encouraged us to go to Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. Finally, I took her to Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC&H) on December 11 where the doctors operated on my wife and found a towel in her womb. Their negligence could have led to my wife’s death,” Ravinder Singh, the woman's husband, was quoted by Hindustan Times.

After learning about the negligence, Singh, the woman's family members and some social activists protested outside the hospital’s maternity ward, demanding strict action against the doctors who performed the surgery.

Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga has set up an inquiry into the matter, and a committee has been created to probe the alleged negligence.

“These are serious allegations. We have marked an inquiry and constituted a committee to probe the incident,” Bagga told the Hindustan Times.

In another case of negligence last month, a family blamed a hospital for the death of their newborn baby. The child's uncle said the baby girl was born healthy, but the hospital said she died. The family also alleged the baby's body had animal bite marks.

"We brought my sister, Sapna Kumaari, to the Kirti hospital at Ramghat Road in Atrauli on the evening of November 22 for delivery. When they showed us the baby's body about an hour after delivery, she was dead. They took her back to the freezer and when we saw her the next morning, we found animal bite marks on her face and body," Hemant Kumar, the child's uncle, said at the time.