Doctors perform C-section, leave mop in woman's stomach

The doctors of Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation hospital who conducted a Caesarean section surgery on a woman left a surgical mop in her stomach.

As per reports, Renu Vishwakarma, who was pregnant with her second child, was operated upon by the doctors on October 28 after she developed labour pains. While the doctors successfully delivered her new born, they accidentally left a surgical mop, the size of a normal handkerchief in her stomach.

Within hours, she got infections and turned blue and was transferred to a tertiary hospital. She was taken to Nair hospital where she had to be admitted to ICU. 

According to her husband, Ramanujan Vishwakarma, the doctors could not find what was wrong with despite conducting several tests, as her stomach was swollen. After a CT scan revealed that there was a surgical mop in her stomach, the doctors conducted an operation immediately.

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Her medical reports says that  "patient Renu Vishwakarma was operated (exploratory laparotomy) on 6/11/2018 at Nair hospital and a mop was retrieved...(sic)". The report is undersigned by Dr Arundhati Tilve and asks police to collect the evidence.

Meanwhile, Vishwakarma has not been able to see her new born child. "I haven't even seen my child yet. She is with my sister-in-law in Borivali. I can't even feed my child who is surviving on commercial milk," said the new mother. She will be discharged from the hospital within a week.

The president of Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), Dr Shivkumar Utture has said that it will look into the matter if the family files an official case with them. "Such kind of negligence is not accepted and if they have all the evidence, they can file an official case with us and we would certainly look into it," he said.

The family is yet to file an official complaint against the doctors with the MMC. The doctors who operated on her may lose their license if found responsible for negligence.

Dr Rajesh Chauhan, health officer of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation has said, "I haven't received any official complaint letter yet but will certainly look into it."

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