Clinica de Especialidades Internacional. “Everything was going well and suddenly, electricity was gone."

A newborn child got injured after a C-section surgery was performed during a power outage at Clinica de Especialidades Internacional in Mexicali, Baja California’s capital city. Doctors in charge of the procedure decided to continue the surgery using their cellphone flashlights. There are even cellphone videos of it filmed by nurses present, which will be used in the suit the patients are presenting against the clinic.

The left ear of the newborn child was cut off during the surgery, which should not have happened according to the baby’s mother, Karla Araceli. She said though sedated during her delivery, she remembered the exact moment when the doctors decided to continue the surgery.

“Everything was going well and suddenly, electricity was gone. There were three doctors: my gynecologist, the assistant, and another one I did not know. This last one said that there was no problem, and my gynecologist agreed, with three cell phones pointing at my stomach they did my C-section. My mom told me that outside the operation room to keep them calm, doctors told them that they had a power plant in use.”

According to Baja California’s law, the clinic should have had a backup electricity plant to be prepared for this type of inconvenience, but the lack of it pushed the doctors to finish the surgery.

Araceli’s mother Sonia Martinez, who was with the father at the moment, explained that the doctors acted strange when they went out to tell them what happened. “When the doctor came out he said the ear of the child was cut off but he remarked that he did not do it and he did not know who did it.”

Right after the delivery doctors proceeded to stitch the baby’s ear while Sonia and her son-in-law were not understanding what was happening at the moment. According to Sonia, doctors said that because of a hemangioma (birthmark) stitching the cut was complicated.

A few hours later another doctor who worked for the clinic appeared and offered Araceli to do a reconstruction surgery on her son that would have cost her 30 thousand pesos ($3000 USD), Araceli and her mother agreed to it but with the passing of time, the baby’s injury got worse. According to Sonia, because of the confusion they did not start a lawsuit against the clinic right away, and some days had to pass to realize how bad the situation was.

As soon as they got a second diagnosis that pointed out the high risk of hearing loss for the child, they presented a lawsuit against the clinic and the doctors involved. Araceli and her mother stated that if they would have had a power plant backup this could have been avoided and her first delivery wouldn’t be such a hardship for her and her newborn son. For now, the family is reaching out to Baja California’s femaie governor Maria del Pilar.