Mother, newborn die during delivery in alleged hospital negligence

FAISALABAD: A woman and her newborn baby died during a delivery procedure at a private hospital in Faisalabad’s Batala Colony area, with the family alleging medical negligence and staging a protest at the facility, police said.

According to the details reported by police, Hira, a resident of Chak 224 RB Wazir Khan Wali, was eight months and 10 days pregnant when she was taken to a private hospital falling within the jurisdiction of Batala Colony police station for childbirth.

Her relatives alleged that the deaths resulted from negligence by hospital staff, claiming that untrained personnel and inadequate medical arrangements led to the administration of a wrong injection. They said the baby died first, and the mother died soon afterwards.

The family also alleged that similar incidents involving women and newborns had taken place at the same hospital in the past, raising concerns for them about the standard of care being provided there. During the protest, family members accused the hospital administration of operating without qualified doctors and proper emergency facilities, and said repeated lapses were leading to avoidable deaths.

They further alleged that when they challenged the hospital over the incident, staff members responded aggressively, pushed protesters and threatened them instead of accepting responsibility.

Following the deaths, the relatives demanded action against the doctors and the hospital administration. Police from Batala Colony later arrived at the hospital and held talks with the protesters.

Police said the family was assured that the matter would be thoroughly investigated. After those assurances, the protesters ended their demonstration and dispersed peacefully.