Obstetric emergencies should not be equated to medical negligence, say doctors

The recent series of incidents in Kerala, wherein unexpected maternal deaths resulted in mob violence and the doctors were accused of medical negligence has been quite demoralising for obstetric professionals

Unexpected complications that arise during delivery, at the end of what might have been a normal gestation, is the nightmare of any Gynaecologist and Obstetrician.

Safe motherhood is taken so much for granted by people today that sudden and serious complications during delivery that ends in maternal death is immediately attributed to medical negligence, followed often by violent mob attacks against the hospital and doctors. The recent series of incidents in Kerala, wherein unexpected maternal deaths resulted in mob violence and the doctors were accused of medical negligence has been quite demoralising for obstetric professionals.

According to WHO, while most pregnancies and births are uneventful, all pregnancies are at risk and around 15% of all pregnant women will develop a potentially life-threatening complication that calls for skilled care, and some will require a major obstetrical intervention to survive.

A 2015 study which assessed 10,458,616 pregnancies in the U.S ( 38% of which were identified as low risk) reported that 29% of pregnancies considered to be low risk had unexpected complications necessitating non-routine obstetric or neonatal care.

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“Normal” is not always normal

“There is nothing “normal” about a “normal” pregnancy. A young patient of mine had no known risk factors but regardless of an uneventful gestation, she developed heart failure while she was undergoing a C-section. It was touch and go but luckily, the cardiologist was there to take over and we could save the mother. None could have predicted this complication but people presume that when a “normal” pregnancy goes into complications during delivery, it is solely because the doctor was negligent,” says Smithy Sanel George, a Kochi-based senior ObGyn consultant and a member of Cochin Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society.