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The petition filed by the woman's husband stated that her surgery was conducted under a mobile flashlight at a maternity home in Bhandup allegedly due to a power outage. The fetus delivered after the procedure also died
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The Bombay High Court (HC) on Wednesday set up an eight-member panel for auditing 30 civic-run maternity homes following the death of a 26-year-old pregnant woman who was allegedly operated on under a mobile flashlight due to a power outage at a hospital, news agency PTI reported.
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A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale said the panel comprising experts from the medical field shall conduct the audit and submit its report in eight weeks.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the woman's husband seeking compensation and a detailed probe into the incident, which occurred last April, PTI reported.
The petition stated that the surgery was conducted on the woman under a mobile flashlight at a Bhandup-based maternity home in Mumbai allegedly owing to a power outage. The fetus delivered after the procedure also died.
The woman was transferred to Sion Hospital in critical condition post-surgery, where she died hours later, as per the petition.
The petitioner claimed that the Sushma Swaraj Maternity Home in Bhandup lacked adequate facilities and that the doctors there performed the surgical procedure under mobile torchlight, PTI reported.
The petition said that despite multiple requests, the petitioner was not provided his wife's medical records following her death.
The petitioner's counsel, Gayatri Singh, had argued that the maternity facility lacked electricity, adequate staff, and beds. She contended that the power supply snapped several times on the day of the incident.
On Wednesday, Singh suggested the names of six of eight members for their induction into the panel. Advocate Purnima H Kantharia, representing the hospital and the Mumbai civic body, did not object to the suggestion.
Kantharia said two doctors from state-run hospitals can also be inducted into the panel and stated that the audit will be conducted as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) under LaQshya or Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative of the Central Government to reduce preventable maternal and newborn mortality.
The bench said four teams of two doctors each will visit nursing homes to conduct a social audit as per SOPs and directed the panel to submit a report within eight weeks.
(With PTI inputs)
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