Mother demands answers after newborn's death exposes hospital failures

Novosibirsk Mother Blames Maternity Hospital for Newborn's Death After Hypothermia Under Air Conditioning

A woman in Novosibirsk has accused a local maternity hospital of causing her baby's death after the infant fell ill due to exposure to an air conditioner. Her story was reported by KP-Novosibirsk.

Anastasia, from Zabaykalsk, became pregnant for the third time at 30. The child was long-awaited—she and her husband already had a seven-year-old son. At four months, doctors suspected the fetus had a congenital heart defect and referred her to a maternity hospital in Novosibirsk. In May 2025, a routine ultrasound at nine months revealed fetoplacental insufficiency.

"I gave birth to my son Mark on May 20. The delivery was natural, and everything went smoothly. At first, he breathed on his own, but because of his heart defect, he started turning blue. With his diagnosis, surgery was urgent within the first three weeks. But they didn't immediately place him in intensive care. The resuscitator said, 'Why did you call us? He's pink—he doesn't need the ICU.' They only transferred Mark hours later, when he had already turned blue," Anastasia told reporters.

According to her, doctors initially suspected an infection but found no pneumonia. On the third day, Mark was supposed to be transported to another clinic for surgery in a mobile ICU unit.

"Just before the transfer, Mark started turning gray before my eyes. The doctors rushed him back to intensive care and told me he was no longer stable enough to move. The resuscitator explained that my son had gone into cardiogenic shock. The next day, when I entered the ward, it was freezing. I touched his little hand—it was ice-cold! The body temperature monitor showed 35.7°C [96.3°F]. The duty doctor walked in and asked, 'Aren't you cold? Should we turn off the air conditioner?' I was in shock: 'An air conditioner in a neonatal ICU in early May?' She then yelled at the nurse for muting the alarms on the monitors. My son had simply frozen—who knows how long he lay there like that,'" Anastasia said.

She insists the incident had severe consequences for Mark—he developed pneumonia. Anastasia was discharged, and due to quarantine restrictions, she was no longer allowed to visit. Later, she was permitted one daily visit, but each time she had to bring a fresh COVID-19 test and chest X-ray.

Anastasia says her son's condition worsened. On June 2, a doctor informed her that Mark had suffered a stroke a week earlier. Desperate, she contacted the Rogachev National Medical Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Immunology in Moscow, where specialists requested Mark's discharge summary. The ICU doctors refused to provide it.

On June 7, I was on my way to the hospital to see my baby again when I received a call: "Your child has died." I demanded a genetic analysis and a forensic medical examination. In the end, the doctors told me they had taken samples the day before his death, that there were "no genetic abnormalities," and that he had died from an unidentified infection. It turns out my child lay there without the life-saving medication he never received.

The autopsy results confirmed that the child died from an unidentified infection.

"My son was diagnosed with DiGeorge syndrome—a primary immunodeficiency caused by the absence of a thymus gland, which went undetected in two ultrasounds. On the day he died, they took an X-ray of his lungs. The report stated, 'No fluid in the lungs.' But the autopsy revealed bilateral hydrothorax—15 ml of fluid in the left lung and 9 ml in the right. There were also multiple sites of necrosis in his organs, including pancreatic necrosis and micro-lesions in the heart. What happened during his hospitalization for surgery was cardiogenic shock. The doctors tried to attribute it to septic shock in the records, covering up their misdiagnosis. I am certain my son caught a chill, then contracted an infection—and that's what killed him."

After what happened, Anastasia filed a complaint with the Investigative Committee and is determined to seek justice.