Pregnant Woman Gives Birth Alone to Already Deceased Fetus in Maternity Ward; On-duty Doctor Did Not Provide Assistance

In the early hours of May 2, around 2-3 AM, a 19-20 week pregnant woman arrived at the Hrazdan maternity hospital reporting light stabbing pains and bleeding. Anush Tadevosyan, a close friend of the pregnant woman, informed Lurer.com that the on-duty doctor did not examine the bleeding woman due to a conflict with her attending physician, resulting in the death of the fetus.

Anush Tadevosyan reported that Nariné was left alone and unattended in the ward until 7 AM, and by the morning, the child had died: “Perhaps it would have been possible to save it if there hadn’t been such neglect. I spoke with her earlier; she said that the nurse tried to help during the night, but she couldn’t provide first aid instead of a doctor. Regardless, the pregnant woman who came to the hospital with these complaints did not receive any kind of assistance from the doctor even after receiving treatment. She gave birth alone in the ward. After giving birth, they only put her to bed and cleaned her up…”

We inquired how the pregnant woman found out that the on-duty and supervising doctor were having a dispute, causing them to refuse her assistance. Anush Tadevosyan replied, “When Nariné approached the on-duty doctor with those complaints, he responded, ‘I have nothing to do with her patients.’ Before going to the hospital, the pregnant woman contacted her doctor, who prescribed Duphaston and Tranexamic acid. After taking these, Nariné felt better, but the on-duty doctor turned on an obstetric IV which intensified her pain and prompted her to give birth. In other words, she was feeling better already, but after that IV treatment, the pain worsened, her uterus contracted, leading to labor.”

To understand the situation better, we spoke with Nariné’s attending physician, Marine Nersisyan, who said that the pregnant woman had not had any complaints in the past three months: “Nariné is 33 years old and was expecting her fourth child. Initially, everything was fine, but recently she was experiencing some virus symptoms; she called us, and we advised her to see her family doctor, after which she was supposed to present for a consultation. It turned out that with acute, stabbing pains and bleeding, she presented to the hospital on Saturday night. I can say that the virus could have harmed the fetus,” said the doctor.

Regarding whether Nariné received any medical assistance before sunrise, Marine Nersisyan expressed that she would hesitate to answer since she was not at the hospital at that time. She addressed the alleged conflict with the on-duty doctor, saying, “I have no conflict with him. I would hesitate to answer what crossed Nariné’s mind when she said we have a conflict.”

When asked whether the fetus could have been saved if the pregnant woman had received timely medical assistance, the doctor again found it difficult to answer: “It’s a difficult question; I can’t answer that. It might have ruptured beforehand, or it could have been later; it’s somewhat relative, but the fact that she had a virus might also contribute to the situation,” she said.

We also spoke with the head of the department, Narine Papyan, who stated that the on-duty doctor was assigned to their hospital by the Ministry of Health: “He has been working with us for 2-3 years, and aside from here, he works elsewhere as well. I still haven’t been able to contact him. I’ve had almost no interaction with him, so I can’t say whether it’s a conflict or not, but I can say that such a case is happening for the first time in our hospital. There hasn’t been anything extraordinary with Tatevik Hovhannisyan for all this time; we are all in shock at this moment,” said the department head.

Although the attending physician denied the claim about a dispute between herself and the on-duty doctor, which led to the latter refusing to provide medical assistance, the department head confirmed it: “Apparently, something like that has happened; I can’t say more because I haven’t talked to the second party yet; we have what we have,” she said. She added that the patient is in the department and her condition is satisfactory, the virus has been cleared, and she is receiving antibiotics. When asked whether the on-duty doctor continues to work with them or has already been dismissed, she replied, “Regardless of whether any media interferes with all of this, the administration will certainly make a decision,” emphasized Narine Papyan. We also tried to contact the on-duty doctor, but to no avail.

After the publication of this material, a representative of the on-duty doctor contacted Auroranews, stating that the circulating information does not reflect the reality.

Notice: A suspect or accused person is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedures established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia by a court decision that has entered into legal force.