Doctors’ fight probed after baby’s death

SAO PAULO, Brazil – A newborn died after two doctors scuffled while the mother was in labor, and Brazilian authorities said Thursday they are investigating to determine whether the delivery room fight caused the death or contributed to it.

The two doctors were fired by the public hospital in the small city of Ivinhema, but investigators have not determined whether the fight played a role in the death, Ivinhema Health Secretary Sonia Garcao said.

Brazil’s Globo TV said witnesses reported one doctor got angry early Tuesday morning because the other doctor was summoned to deliver the baby for 32-year-old Gislaine de Matos Rodrigues even though he was not scheduled to be on duty.

Witnesses said the baby died of asphyxiation following complications, Globo TV reported.

One of the doctors admitted to Globo TV there was a fight in the delivery room but blamed his colleague.

The network said it was unable to interview the second doctor.

Rodrigues said she was terrified when the fight broke out. “I asked them to stop fighting and help me,” she told Globo TV.

A third doctor took over the delivery after hospital security guards removed the fighting doctors and her baby girl was dead upon delivery, Rodrigues said.