Mumbai, India

A 26-year-old woman and her newborn baby died after doctors performed a C-section using mobile phone flashlights at a maternity home in Mumbai's Bhandup area. The maternity home is run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The woman, Sahidun, was married to Khusruddin Ansari for 11 months, and they lived in Bhandup. She went to the hospital on April 29 after having labour pains.

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As per information, the municipal corporation has established a committee to investigate the deaths of the woman and her newborn baby.

According to Sahidun's brother-in-law, Sharukh Ansari, the original plan was for a natural delivery. However, because the baby's heartbeat was low, the medical team opted for a cesarean section.

"Despite the lack of adequate lighting, they proceeded with the operation using a handheld torch. Although other hospital options were available, the doctors chose to continue with the procedure under risky conditions," he said as quoted by Free Press Journal.

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Power outage leads to tragic death

When discussing her daughter-in-law's health, the mother-in-law mentioned that she was in perfect health, and all her medical reports were normal. She also mentioned that her daughter-in-law was admitted at 7 am on Monday and remained in the hospital until 8 pm, with the doctors repeatedly assuring that the delivery would proceed naturally.

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She added, “Then, when I went to meet her, I saw that she was covered in blood. They had made an incision and then came to get a signature saying she had suffered a fit and a C-section was needed."

"That's when the power went out and they did not send us to another hospital even after that. They took us to the operation theatre and did the delivery with the help of a phone torch. The child died and, when we cried, the doctor said the mother would survive. They referred us to Sion Hospital, but she had died by then. There was no oxygen available either," the mother-in-law was quoted as saying by NDTV.

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A senior doctor from the maternity hospital, who chose to remain anonymous, also commented on the power outage, mentioning that there was a problem with the generator.

“Surgery was almost done when the electricity went off. They had to rely on the torch as the generator gave problems. It is not the doctor’s fault. The generator was repaired on the same day. The engineer had visited the hospital to check on the generator the previous day also," the doctor said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

(With inputs from agencies)