Doctor fired after newborn dies from being dragged on hospital hallway

A doctor has been fired and several staff demoted following an incident where a newborn baby died after being dragged several metres by the mother's wheelchair.

The baby was born earlier this month, while the mother, known only as Ms Shang, was being moved in a wheelchair for a caesarean operation, said hospital managers at the Women and Children Medical Care Centre in Luoyang City, in central China's Henan province.

Surveillance cameras showed that the baby hit the ground head down and was dragged by the attached umbilical cord for more than 10 metres before a nurse noticed, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

The left side of the baby's head was swollen with what doctors believe were intracranial haematomas (rupture of the blood vessels). The baby died later despite getting treatment.

WATER BROKE

A man known only as Mr Pan, the baby's father, said Ms Shang's water broke on the evening of Jan 1 after a seven-month pregnancy. The doctor on the night shift at the hospital advised natural labour after an examination that day.

But another doctor, Dr Qin Hongjuan, allegedly recommended a caesarean operation because Ms Shang had given birth to her first child 15 years ago in the same manner.

The city health department has launched an investigation into whether the hospital should be responsible for the baby's death.

On Friday, the hospital sacked Dr Qin and removed several others from their posts, the report said. Two nurses who had moved the mother were also penalised.

This article was first published on Feb 1, 2015.
Get The New Paper for more stories.