Private hospital and doctor fined BD60,000 after birth error leaves baby disabled

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A private hospital and doctor have been ordered to pay BD60,000 after a delivery went horribly wrong, leaving a baby permanently disabled.

The High Civil Appeals Court confirmed the ruling following a review of medical negligence during the boy’s birth, which caused severe brain injuries and a lifelong disability rated at 90 per cent.

Lawyer Jassim Sarhan, acting for the family, told the court the mother had checked into the hospital for routine childbirth.

Problems

But problems arose quickly, and although a Caesarean was clearly required, the doctor chose instead to use a suction device to deliver the baby.

That decision had terrible consequences: the newborn did not cry at birth, suffered oxygen loss, brain damage, and slow heartbeat, forcing medical staff to urgently transfer him to Salmaniya Medical Complex.

He remained in intensive care there for 40 days, leaving him permanently impaired, unable to care for himself, and needing round-the-clock supervision.

Medical steps

Earlier, the court had tasked experts from the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) to investigate exactly what happened and whether proper medical steps were followed.

NHRA experts found the doctor had made clear errors.

They revealed the doctor had failed to check the baby’s heartbeat for a full hour during the labour, something considered unacceptable by medical guidelines.

Risks

The doctor also neglected to explain the risks involved with suction delivery to the parents, misused the device itself, and failed to take a blood sample from the umbilical cord immediately after birth despite obvious distress signs.

In its original ruling, the lower court had instructed the hospital and the doctor to jointly pay BD50,000 to the father as guardian of the child, plus another BD20,000 to both parents for their emotional suffering, along with court fees and lawyers’ costs.

However, the hospital and doctor appealed the decision, and the High Civil Appeals Court decided to trim down the emotional damages paid to the parents from BD20,000 to BD10,000, while keeping intact the BD50,000 for the child’s injuries.