An incident at the People’s Hospital of Xuyi county in Huai’an, Jiangsu province, has captured widespread attention after a newborn’s left middle finger was accidentally severed during the cutting of the umbilical cord.
The newborn’s father, surnamed Sheng, said that due to the infant’s small size, the surgery was highly challenging. It took two hospital transfers before the severed finger was reattached at a specialized hospital in Wuxi.
On Monday evening, the county’s health commission issued a statement about the incident. On Dec 25, a woman surnamed Zhang gave birth to a baby boy via cesarean section at the hospital. During the procedure, a severe error by the attending midwife resulted in the partial severing of the newborn’s left middle finger.
The county hospital promptly contacted several other facilities before transferring the infant to a hospital where a surgery was performed that afternoon. By Dec 31, the infant had been discharged and is currently in the recovery phase.
The statement said that the midwife involved has been suspended from her duties. The county hospital has issued repeated and sincere apologies to the infant’s family and has pledged to support his treatment and rehabilitation fully.
It said the incident has highlighted deficiencies in the hospital’s medical safety management procedures, and all personnel involved will be held accountable. A comprehensive medical safety inspection will be conducted throughout the county.
According to the father, the infant’s severed finger is fixed with a steel pin, causing the child to cry frequently.
