Kampala- A couple has dragged Case Medical Centre in Kampala to court, accusing its workers of declaring their newborn baby dead whereas it was still alive.
The couple says medical workers at the hospital pronounced the baby dead, wrapped it in four bed sheets and took it to the mortuary before it was handed over to them for burial.
Mr Anthony Mutyaba and his wife Justine Nassimbwa accuse the health facility of negligence and are seeking Shs127m in damages for allegedly suffocating their baby to death.
In their complaint, filed before the High Court in Kampala last Friday, the couple accuses the hospital of failing to determine whether their baby was still alive or dead at birth.
“If it was not for the negligence of the defendant and its employees who declared and wrapped the baby for more than five hours, the baby would not have died,” the complaint states in part.
“The plaintiffs bring this claim against the defendant, seeking general damages… plus costs for gross medical negligence which resulted into the death of their son causing a lot of pain and suffering,” it further states.
According to court documents which this newspaper has seen, the incident happened on October 4, last year.
Ms Nassimbwa, 25, who was six months pregnant, checked into the hospital after developing abdominal pains.
A doctor, who was on duty, administered a pain killer on the patient and later scanned and prepared her for labour.
The following day, at about 5pm, Ms Nassimbwa bled and was induced and gave birth to a baby boy who was pronounced dead.
Subsequently, the ‘dead’ body was wrapped in bed sheets and taken to the mortuary.
However, the couple discovered that their baby was alive when they took it for burial at Kisubi the same day.
They rushed it to Kisubi Hospital where it was pronounced alive but later referred to Nsambya Hospital for better management.
The records state that the baby was put in an incubator but died after 18 hours since it had spent more than five hours wrapped in four bed sheets.
According to the hospital’s report, his death was a result of respiratory failure.
By press time, the court had not yet summoned the facility to file in their defence before a hearing date can be fixed.- Daily Monitor
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