Needle left inside pregnant woman’s womb: Meghalaya Health Minister orders inquiry

In a horrific incident, a needle was left inside a pregnant women’s womb during labour at Ganesh Das hospital in Shillong, Meghalaya.

Meghalaya health minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Thursday ordered an inquiry to the entire incident of the pregnant woman’s ordeal.

The woman identified as Fatima Rani from Mawlyndep village in Ri Bhoi, was later shifted to NEIGRIHMS to remove the needle. However, the child was already distressed and had to be resuscitated, but did not survive.

Lyngdoh has insisted on an inquiry at the level of Director of Health Services (Medical Institutions) to determine if there were any gross lapses from the medical team.

Speaking to media person, Lyngdoh stated, “We are taking this incident seriously and also wanted to ensure that the patient party and the people at large feel a sense of reassurance that it was something that has happened. We will ensure that henceforth these kinds of situations do not occur again.”

The Health Minister clarified that there was no malpractice or errors involved in the strict sense by a doctor or a medical practitioner. “The loss of this little baby was a natural procedure of loss,” she said.

However, she expressed regret over the loss of the child and stated that compensation would only be followed if there had been a gross lapse of responsibility by the medical team.

Regarding the medical infrastructure at Ganesh Das Hospital, Lyngdoh observed that the hsopital does not have higher facilities in case of any mistakes or unforeseen occurrences. She added that the hospital would perform better if they had additional medical infrastructure facilities.

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