A baby died in the womb after a pregnant woman got stuck in a lift at the Valley’s lone tertiary care maternity hospital, Lal Ded (LD).
Officials said the woman (name withheld) from south Kashmir was stuck in the lift in the wee hours of Friday when a doctor was taking her for surgery.
“Due to some technical snag in the lift, both woman and the accompanying doctor got stuck inside for around 45 minutes,” said a senior doctor at LD Hospital.
The patient was being taken to the operation theatre from Ward 17 because the normal delivery of the baby was not possible, he said.
After the lift was made functional, both patient and doctor were rescued safely, he said. “However, we could not save the baby. The heart rates of the patient and the doctor had increased dangerously but both are safe,” he added.
While terming the incident “sad”, Medical Superintendent, LD Hospital, Dr Mushtaq Ahmad said the incident would be investigated thoroughly.
“The lift got stuck due to some technical snag for a few minutes. However, the unborn baby did not die because the mother-to-be got stuck in the lift. It was an intrauterine death,” said Dr Mushtaq.
Sources said the unborn baby died due to the delay in surgery. “The unborn baby could have been saved by early intervention. However, we only removed a dead baby from the uterus of the patient,” they said.
Government-run hospitals in Kashmir often face power cuts, putting the lives of patients at risk.
During the 2014 floods, hospitals in Kashmir were without electricity for several days.
Unborn baby dies after woman gets stuck in lift at LD Hospital
