Delhi: 'Declared Dead' At Hospital, Newborn Found Alive Just Before Burial

A newborn girl's family has claimed that the child was declared dead at LNJP Hospital in Delhi, but was found alive about an hour-and-a-half later when they were making plans for her burial.

A family in Delhi alleged that their newborn girl was "declared dead" soon after birth at the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital, but was found alive about an hour-and-a-half later when they were making plans for her burial. A video showing the baby in a box became widely circulated on social media. The baby's 35-year-old mother has another daughter, aged three. The baby's father works in the business of simple toolmaking, the family said.

According to a senior doctor at the city government's largest hospital, it was a regular delivery but the mother was just 23 weeks pregnant, and the pre-term baby "weighed only 490 grams". He added that the authorities had ordered an inquiry into the matter.

"The woman was brought to the hospital with stomach pain. She was 23-weeks pregnant. It was a normal delivery on Sunday but the baby weighed only 490 grams. In medical terms, such babies are considered aborted babies," said the senior LNJP Hospital doctor. Efforts were made to resuscitate the baby, the doctor said. "After the baby showed some movement, the baby was immediately put on life support and is currently on ventilator support," he added.

The family said that the video was shot by them after they brought the infant back to the hospital. The baby's father even called the PCR helpline, but the police only took some notes on a "rough piece of paper" when they came, he claimed.

Salman, the baby's uncle, also alleged that when they reached the hospital, the doctors "shut their rooms and refused to admit the baby again". "The guards misbehaved with us. We protested and asked them to admit the child but they refused to budge. We called the police, who then intervened and got the baby admitted again," Salman said. He said the family does not know the current condition of the baby.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri latched on to the incident and hit out at the Arvind Kejriwal government. "The Kejriwal government describes Delhi's health services as world class and calls LNJP Hospital its best hospital. This incident has exposed all the false claims of the Delhi government," he said.

"Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia [who also holds the Health department portfolio] should immediately resign on moral grounds," Bidhuri demanded. In a statement issued by the BJP's Delhi unit, Bidhuri expressed "deep sorrow and disappointment" over the matter. LNJP Hospital was the mainstay of the government's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.