Premature baby twice declared dead in error by Cambodian clinic

Aug 13, 2009, 3:07 GMT

   Phnom Penh - A private health clinic in Phnom Penh could be sued after mistakenly declaring a premature baby dead on two occasions, local media reported.

   The baby's father, Im Vannarith, told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that he took his six-month pregnant wife to the Soriya Clinic on Monday after she complained of abdominal pains.

   Two hours later she gave birth to a baby boy, named Samnang, but he was declared dead by the clinic owner shortly afterwards.

   'We were devastated,' Im Vannarith said, adding that he went to see his son's body in another room. 'I saw my baby was still breathing, so I asked the doctor to send him to hospital.'

   But while in a car on the way to a children's hospital in Phnom Penh, the clinic nurse - who was accompanying the baby, his father and grandmother - told the driver to turn around, saying Samnang had died.

   On returning to the clinic, the baby was again laid out as if dead, but when his grandmother went to check on him she found he was breathing.

   Im Vannarith then took his son to the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital, where the infant remains in a critical condition, said hospital director Dr Beat Richner.

   'He only weighs 0.9 kilograms,' he said. 'It is possible to save a baby this small, but those first few hours were crucial. The child arrived at our hospital very late.'

   The Soriya Clinic denied wrongdoing and told the Post that it had tried its best to help Samnang after he stopped breathing.

   Im Vannarith said he and his lawyer are contemplating legal action.