Doctors exonerated in washroom birth case

KARACHI: Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said on Wednesday that an inquiry had found no negligence by doctors in the recent incident at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in which a woman gave birth in a washroom.

Speaking to the media during a visit to a special children’s centre, the minister said the pregnant woman had left her bed and gone to the washroom by herself. She said accusations against doctors were not justified in those circumstances.

Dr Pechuho said the woman had already reached the stage of delivery and that the baby was born on the floor of the labour room, which she described as not unusual in medical practice. She said an investigation into the episode had been completed and had not established negligence on the part of the medical staff.

The minister also said the patient’s male attendants had misbehaved with hospital staff. She added that the presence of unrelated people inside the labour room was inappropriate.