Medic saw doc stretch baby’s neck before head snapped off
Colleague haunted by botched delivery
A DOCTOR has told how a “catastrophe” unfolded in a delivery theatre as a baby was decapitated inside his mother’s womb.
Dr Yeswanthini Bhushan said she saw the child’s neck “stretched” and was still haunted by the memory four years after the tragedy at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
The evidence came in the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing against Dr Vaishnavy Laxman, who is accused of contributing to the baby’s death. She faces being struck off if found guilty of serious professional misconduct.
Dr Bhushan claimed she warned the consultant gynaecologist to be careful “at least three to four times” during the delivery. She told how she saw Dr Laxman trying to deliver the baby, despite his mother only being 2cm to 3cm dilated.
Dr Bhushan said: “I knew this baby was extremely fragile. That the baby had significant bruising and that the neck was stretched. I told others to be careful.”
She said that removing the baby’s head from his mother’s uterus was “the most horrific experience anybody could have and it has haunted me”.
It was earlier alleged that Dr Laxman, 41, wrongly decided against performing a Caesarean section when the unborn child’s heartbeat dropped.
Instead, she tried to pull the baby out by his legs. Tragically, the boy’s head became stuck and he was decapitated as the doctor tried to manipulate it through the mother’s cervix.
Two other doctors at the hospital subsequently carried out a Caesarean to remove the infant’s head, which was “re-attached” to his body so his mother could hold him.
In an emotional exchange, the baby’s mother – referred to as Patient A – told Dr Laxman: “I don’t forgive you. I don’t forgive you.”
The tragedy happened on March 16, 2014, while Dr Laxman was working at Ninewells Hospital.
Charles Garside QC, for the General Medical Council, said the woman’s waters had broken 25 weeks into her pregnancy.
An examination revealed the umbilical cord was coming out of the womb ahead of the baby and he was also in a breech position – his feet were coming out first.
Staff realised the baby needed to be delivered quickly.
But despite his prematurity and position, Dr Laxman opted against a Caesarean in favour of a natural delivery it was alleged.
Patient A, who gave evidence while holding two teddy bears, said it was her first pregnancy. “Nobody told me what was happening,” she said. “I was told to push. I was in pain.
“They twice tried to cut my cervix. There was no anaesthetic. I said, ‘It doesn’t feel right, stop it’, but nobody responded.”
Dr Michelle Cooper, who was in the theatre but not involved in the initial physical delivery, told the tribunal via video link: “I was unable to see who was applying traction at the moment the body was separated.
“The delivery was passing between the two consultants.”
The hearing continues.
The baby had bruising and the neck was stretched DR BHUSHAN AT THE TRIBUNAL