Thaindian News

Jodhpur, March 13 (IANS) A woman who had delivered a child at the government-run Umaid Hospital here last month died due to excessive bleeding Sunday, taking the toll of pregnancy-related deaths at the hospital to 16, an official said.

“Prem Kanwar had been referred to our hospital after her delivery at Umaid Hospital one-and-a-half months ago. Her condition became serious due to excessive bleeding,” a doctor at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital told IANS.

She was put on ventilator for the last few days, he added.

“We have ordered an enquiry. The post-mortem has been also conducted and the cause of the death would only be known after the report is received,” a police officer said.

Earlier, Prem’s family refused to accept the body and demanded an investigation into her death.

“Prem was killed due to hospital’s negligence. We want action against responsible doctors,” said Shankar, one of her relatives.

Since the second week of February, 16 pregnant women have died of excessive bleeding at Umaid Hospital here after they were allegedly administered contaminated IV fluids.

The hospital administration had lodged a first information report against the Indore-based firm which manufactured the fluids, following which its quality control manager Sanjay Shah was arrested.

However, the autopsy report of one of the women March 10 said infection was the cause of her death.

A report prepared by a team of doctors from SMS Hospital in Jaipur had also said the deaths could be because of hospital-generated infection.

A team of doctors from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh is scheduled to arrive here in the next few days to probe the matter further.