When Neera Vishnubhatla went into labour with baby Sahana, she was prepared for hours of painful labour contractions. But she had no idea the ordeal would also leave her badly burned and in a wheelchair for two months.
After more than a year of trying to conceive, Neera (27) and her husband Srikanth Abburi (31), of Christchurch, were looking forward to the arrival of their first baby. When she went into labour, she had an epidural which numbed her from the chest downwards.
However, Neera’s midwife had put a hot water bottle filled with boiling water onto her feet. Because Neera couldn’t feel anything, she was completely unaware that the bottle was burning her almost to the bone.
“It was only when she started washing me down after the birth that she realised that my feet were burned. I still couldn’t feel them but an hour later the epidural wore off and I felt the terrible pain. I can’t describe it – it was dying pain – I almost thought death had to be better than the agony I was going through. It was worse than any labour pain.”
Neera had opted for an epidural when her contractions became too strong to bear. “I tried the gas for a while and that didn’t help. But the epidural worked really well. I started feeling on top of the world and I was saying to my husband and my parents how pain-free I was. I even went to sleep for a while.”
But when Neera began to tremble, the midwife decided to use Neera’s hotwater bottle, which she had asked the young mum-to-be to bring with her to hospital. However, Christchurch Women’s Hospital, where Neera was giving birth, has a ban on the bottles.
“The midwife thought I was cold and put the bottle under my feet. I didn’t see her filling it but I imagine it would have been boiling water for it to do that much damage. She completely forgot the bottle was there and I wasn’t feeling anything at all.”
Neera’s feet were left so badly burned, she couldn’t walk and needed skin grafts on both feet. She has only been able to cope with her new baby with the help of her mother and father who had travelled from India to New Zealand for the birth.
The ordeal has upset bonding between mother and daughter because of the time she’s had to spend in hospital with skin grafts. Being on morphine for the burn pain meant she could not breastfeed her beautiful baby girl.
“I’ve had tablets to bump up my milk production but my baby wasn’t up to it by then. But she’s a very precious first baby and she’s doing great – despite everything.”
Neera has complained to the New Zealand College of oidwives about the care she received and the complaint is also being investigated by the Health and Disability Commissioner. In August, the midwife sent an apology letter to Neera for all the pain and inconvenience caused as a result.
“This is my fourth year of practice as a midwife and I have never had anything like this happen before. I would never intentionally hurt anyone or do anything to cause harm to anyone,” she wrote. “As a result, I have reflected long and hard on this incident and will ensure nothing like this happens again.”
But Neera would like to see further action taken. “I know she didn’t do it intentionally. It was an accident, but if you have a car accident and you say sorry, it’s not the end of the story – there are other consequences.”
Neera has just started to learn to walk again – and it hasn’t been easy. “The right foot has healed but the left is still healing. It’s a slow process, and the pain is still there. Even so, I’m confident I will recover because I’m strong and want to get better for my baby.”
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