What was supposed to be an emergency abortion of a woman who was 27 weeks pregnant took a dramatic turn when her baby was born alive. The woman who has a hole in her heart had been allowed to undergo medical termination of pregnancy to save her life.
The Bombay High Court has directed that the newborn must not be taken out of KEM hospital in Parel.
"The infant should not be taken out of the hospital without advice," said a bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale on August 9.
The 20-year-old woman and her husband, who hail from Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, learnt about the pregnancy in the month of March. Later, she was admitted in a local hospital with a bad cough and breathlessness where she found she has a 20mm hole in her heart, as reported by Times of India.
The doctors advised her to have an abortion and referred her to a cardiologist.
The couple, then, went to KEM Hospital. The doctors told her that given her atrial septal defect, lower respiratory tract infection and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension, her life could be at risk if the pregnancy continued.
Following this, the couple approached the Bombay High Court for permission to terminate the pregnancy as she was beyond the legally allowed 24-week period.
“Continuation of her pregnancy involves a high risk to the life of the first petitioner. It is causing immense anguish, suffering and stress to the petitioner and constitutes a grave injury to her mental health and well-being," the woman's petition in the HC stated.
Considering the 'significant' opinion of cardiologists and the finding that "while medical termination carries a risk, this may be less than the higher risk of 30% to 56 % of likely maternal mortality if the pregnancy is carried to term", the court allowed the abortion, according to TOI. It directed to obtain a formal signed consent from the couple.
On August 9, BMC's advocate Sagar Patil submitted a note from the hospital that "the patient tolerated the procedure well and delivered a 484 gm baby" who has been admitted to the NICU and the mother's condition is stable.
The Court directed that the woman should not be discharged until her condition is cured and the child should also not be taken out of the hospital as of now.
The next hearing on this matter is on August 21.