Nurses, not doctors oversaw childbirths at Banswara district hospital, says report

Most of the deliveries at the Banswara district hospital, where 81 newborns died in the last two months, were overseen by the nursing staff — most of whom were not skilled birth attendants — and not gynecologists, a government probe panel report said.

The report accessed by HT said the doctors only performed Caesarean sections at the hospital while the eight-member nursing staff, of which only two were trained to conduct deliveries, supervised normal childbirths.

The probe team also found that the cloth used to clean the newborns was not sterilised, leading to infections.

“The still birth ratio at the hospital was 73/1000 live births, highlighting the lack of services extended in the labour room,” the report said.

During its investigation, the panel uncovered that in some cases Oxytocin was given to the mothers for early delivery even though it should be administered only in extreme cases.

The panel also found that most mothers who delivered still born children were malnourished child brides, which raised question mark over the functioning of government’s Anganwadi Centres.

The government had suspended three doctors and five other staff members for negligence after the panel submitted its report to health minister Kali Charan Saraf on Monday. Disciplinary action, including imposition of penalty, has been initiated against three doctors and four nursing staff.

THE PROBE TEAM ALSO FOUND THAT THE CLOTH USED TO CLEAN TO CLEAN THE NEWBORNS WAS NOT STERILISED, LEADING TO INFECTIONS