Newborn Kept In Direct Sunlight On Doctor’s ‘Advice’, Dies Of Heatstroke In Mainpuri

A newborn girl died of heatstroke after she was placed under direct sunlight by her family in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh, allegedly on the advice of a doctor.

Uttar Pradesh News: In a tragic incident, a newborn girl died of heatstroke in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh after her family kept the five-day-old baby under direct sunlight for around half an hour, allegedly on a doctor’s ‘advice’.

As per reports, five days ago, Rita Devi, a resident of Bhugai village in Mainpuri, gave birth to a baby girl via C-section at the Sri Sai Hospital, located on Radha Raman Road in Mainpuri. The newborn was diagnosed with neonatal jaundice– a common ailment among many infants– on Wednesday (May 15) and a doctor allegedly advised the family to expose the baby to direct sunlight for around 30 minutes.

The family has alleged that they followed the doctor’s ‘advice’ and placed the baby in direct sunlight on the roof of the hospital at around 11: AM on Wednesday morning. However, around half an hour later, when they removed the infant from sunlight and took her downstairs, she died.

The infant’s death triggered outrage in Mainpuri and the family has demanded strict action against the doctor for medical negligence. The accused doctor reportedly fled the hospital after the infant’s death while the mother, Rita Devi, was also forcibly discharged from the medical facility after the incident, India Today reported, quoting the aggrieved family.

Mainpuri Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr RC Gupta said they have launched an investigation into the family’s allegations against the erring doctor and assured strict action if found guilty.

“We received information about the death of an infant girl. If the allegations against the accused doctor are true, then it is gross negligence and strict action will be taken against him,” Dr Gupta said.

Doctors believe a mild exposure to sunlight is common and trusted method to prevent and reduce the chance of neonatal jaundice, however, extreme caution must be exercised when exposing an infant to direct sunlight, especially when temperatures are high.

The baby died due to heatstroke which was caused by excessive and unmonitored exposure to sunlight in the warming heat.