Q&A – 25 October 2010

Delayed cesarean, child dead

My wife was in the delivery room at a large and new hospital in Dar. We entered the delivery room at 6 25pm on a Saturday and were attended by a midwife. My wife was immediately taken to the delivery room. At about 9pm the fetus heart beat was dropping and the nurse in charge used her phone to beep the doctor on call as she had no credit; the doctor did not call her back. At 9:05 pm the nurse used my phone to call the doctor who responded that he was far and that the nurse should call another doctor, who was not on call. The other doctor did not pick the phone despite frantically calling him; we then again tried calling the doctor on call, who had switched off his mobile. All this time my wife was put in a special position whilst awaiting a surgeon. Meanwhile the fetus’ heartbeat continued to drop. At about 9:45pm, the nurse decided to call the general surgeon on call who instructed that my wife be immediately transferred to theatre and that he would arrive in 20 minutes. As it was a Saturday night, and not many nurses or attendants on duty, we had to assist the midwife to push the bed to the theatre. Just after 10pm, the general surgeon appeared, rushed to the theatre and performed a ‘c’ section on my wife. A beautiful baby girl was born. The APGAR score at 1 minute was 2; the APGAR score at 5 minutes was 1. The surgeon came out and informed us that the baby was not normal and that we would have to keep her under oxygen for the night. The baby girl died at 4 45am early next day. I did some research on the net and found out some facts. First that the emergency was because of an umbilical cord prolapse and that had the doctor on call come on time, it would have saved my daughter’s life. Secondly the position that my wife was put in by the midwife, is called Trendelenburg position and that was required awaiting arrival of the doctor and confirms that there indeed was a prolapse of the cord. The midwife and doctors did try convincing us that it was the will of God and that it was likely the child would have  died anyways, but I am now convinced that the hospital is responsible for this. It also turns out that the doctor who refused to come does not live far from the hospital and was supposed to be on call that day. I have lost my daughter because of the hospitals negligence- I will never get her back. I want to take the hospital to task to make sure this never happens to anyone again. What should I do?
MM, Dar

We are glad to hear that you are not subscribing to the hospitals baseless argument that this would have happened anyways. The nurse and doctor who told you this should have perhaps trained as fortune tellers rather than medical practitioners.

It is apparent that the hospital and/or the medical practitioners have been negligent in the way they have handled the delivery as a whole.

Whilst child birth has great risks to both the mother and baby, that is the precise reason one goes to hospitals and doesn’t stay at home.

In your case, and from the description you have given us in your question, it is quite apparent that the hospital and doctor(s) are liable for the death of the new born baby. You must ask yourself three questions: Did the hospital owe your wife a duty of care? The answer is yes.

Secondly, was the doctor and/or hospital in breach of this duty? The answer seems to be in the affirmative- a hospital dealing in maternity should have a surgeon on call, and such surgeon must timely respond to such a call; lastly, did this negligence lead to the death of the new born. The answer again is yes.

We believe you have a good chance of success and should sue not only the hospital but also the doctor who did not show up. You should also join any other persons you think was responsible

Barber cut all my hair

What can I do to a barber who mistakenly cuts off my moustache that I have grown for the past ten years? What if he has a notice saying that one cuts hair at his or her own risk? Does that change your position?
GH, Arusha

We are not sure if this barber actually cut your moustache or you are asking this question for general interest. We have all been to barbers in Tanzania and haven’t seen such signs saying you cut your hair at your own risk!

Where a contract for supply of services exists, there are certain terms implied into the contract. The relevant implied term in the contract to cut your hair or moustache, whatever the case maybe, is that of reasonable care and skill. Where the supplier is acting in the course of a business, an implied term exists that the supplier will carry out the service with reasonable care and skill.

In this case, the barber has not used reasonable care and skill and hence you would have a cause of action against him. This now brings us to the second part of the question- does the notice exempt the barber from acting with such reasonable care and skill. Our answer is in the negative.

Prohibition to arbitrate outside Tanzania

One of the local parties I am entering into a contract with informs me that according to local law, all arbitration must be conducted in Tanzania. This doesn’t surprise me because of the country’s socialist background, but is there some flexibility?
JL, China

We are surprised to hear this. We are not aware of any law that prohibits you to choose a venue for arbitration outside the country. The other party may be trying to save on costs, as Arbitration outside the country is very expensive. If the party is misguiding you about arbitration, you may want to read the entire contract and see what else you have missed!