Beijing:

In a horrific incident, a newborn baby was killed after being dragged several meters by the umbilical cord while the mother was being shifted to an operation theatre at a hospital in China.



Surveillance cameras at the Women and Children Medical Care Center of Luoyang City showed that the baby hit the ground head-down and was dragged by the attached umbilical cord for more than 10 meters before the nurse noticed, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.



The incident happened on January 2 when the mother was being taken on a wheel chair for cesarean operation.



The left side of the baby’s head was swollen with what doctors thought was intracranial hematomas and the baby died later despite medical treatment.



The father, surnamed Pan, said his wife Shang started having pains after which an hospital doctor advised natural labor after examination.



However, another doctor Qin Hongjuan strongly recommended the cesarean because Shang gave birth to their first child 15 years ago in the same manner.



The hospital yesterday sacked Qin Hongjuan, the doctor who recommended cesarean, and removed several others from their administrative posts.



Two nurses who moved the mother also received penalties.



The hospital admitted a lack of experience in the doctor’s cesarean suggestion and improper handling, including the nurses’ use of a wheelchair to transport the mother to the operation theatre and their failure to notice the baby coming out.



The city health department has launched an investigation into the matter.



Chinese hospitals have long reported high cesarean rates, which experts blame on profit-seeking doctors and mothers using cesarean to give birth on a lucky date or to secure a painless delivery.

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