KOLAR: The joy of a 20-year-old woman after she delivered a baby boy at a govt hospital in Kolar, Karnataka, on May 5 was cut short when she started suffering from excruciating pain in her stomach four days later.
Chandrika, of Ramasagara village, was prescribed an ointment by doctors of a private nursing home for pain relief. But when family members started applying the ointment, they were shocked to see a piece of cloth sticking out of her vagina, where the doctors at Govt SNR Hospital had made an incision to facilitate smooth delivery.
With utmost care, the family members pulled out the cloth. It turned out to be three feet long.
Chandrika’s husband, Rajesh, a private firm employee, realised that doctors at Govt SNR Hospital had failed to remove the vaginal mop they had placed to prevent bleeding after making the incision. He rushed to the govt hospital and lodged a complaint with district surgeon Dr SN Vijayakumar seeking action against the staff for negligence.
He said doctors had placed a vaginal mop to prevent bleeding with an advice to Chandrika to get it removed while getting the sutures removed. “The doctor on duty had also instructed the staff nurse in this regard. However, the nurse seems to have forgotten or the patient might not have turned up for removal of the sutures,” he said.
However, Rajesh told TOI that Chandrika was in the hospital till May 7 and was asked to return for a check-up on May 17. The staff had told them that the sutures were soluble and there was no need to remove them, he claimed.