Novokuznetsk maternity hospital staff went to work sick

Employees of maternity hospital No. 1 in Novokuznetsk, where nine babies died during the New Year holidays, went to work with a cough and fever. The patients of the institution told about it on January 13.

According to women in labor, they faced rudeness and unsanitary conditions in the postpartum ward.

"To put it mildly, I would never advise anyone in my life, neither friend nor enemy, to be on this floor. The nurses there give injections without gloves, you ask them for a pill, they don't give you a pill," Arina Bedareva, the mother of the deceased child, shared.

The local prosecutor's office had previously found numerous violations in the hospital — blood stains on mattresses, improper disinfection of bottles. The quality of the renovation is such that it is simply impossible to properly disinfect the room. Women in labor complained for a long time about unsanitary conditions, dirty floors, uprooted sockets, and evidence of cockroaches throughout the facility. At the same time, according to data for 2025, the hospital conducted almost 600 procurement procedures and concluded more than 500 contracts totaling 1.6 billion rubles.

There are also questions about the staff. There are a lot of reviews about what the patients themselves consider to be medical errors: the child's collarbone was broken and his mother was accused of not being able to give birth, there is evidence that the baby died a few days after the midwife dropped him.

The photos of the babies from the hospital also show scars on their heads. Experienced obstetricians are sure that in this case we are talking about a medical error.

"Scratches and wounds on children's heads are taken only as a result of one manipulation — the opening of the fetal bladder. There is no other way to inflict such a wound on a child. An experienced doctor knows how to do this manipulation, he will not harm the child," said Olga Rusina, senior obstetrician, osteopath, and instructor in preparation for childbirth.

"The situation has happened": nine babies died in Novokuznetsk maternity hospital

Two criminal cases have been initiated

Obstetric hospital No. 1 of the city clinical hospital No. 1 named after G.P. Kurbatov in Novokuznetsk temporarily stopped receiving patients. As clarified on January 13, this decision was made due to an increase in the incidence of respiratory infection.

Shortly after, nine babies were reported dead in the hospital. In addition, the UK confirmed the death of newborns. Because of the incident, a criminal case was opened in accordance with Part 3 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code ("Causing death by negligence"), part 3 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code ("Negligence").

As a result, the governor of Kuzbass, Ilya Seredyuk, temporarily dismissed the head physician of the hospital in whose maternity hospital the babies died. According to the Izvestia source, all infants were diagnosed with either intrauterine or neonatal infection. It was these infections that caused the critical complications.

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