A 22-year-old mother and her 2-day-old son fell unconscious here Friday after she fainted while breast-feeding on a hospital bed and collapsed on top of him, it was learned Saturday.
The mother started feeding the child at the Isesaki Civic Hospital shortly after midnight Thursday, and a patient in the same room called a nurse after noticing something amiss around 12:45 a.m. The nurse found the mother unconscious and lying over her baby, hospital sources said.
A gynecologist on call diagnosed an epileptic seizure and sedated her, according to the officials. However, a brain surgeon who examined her seven hours later found she had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, they said.
Hospital Director Taido Arai admitted Saturday that the gynecologist had misdiagnosed and apologized to her family.
The hospital is jointly run by the city of Isesaki and four other neighboring municipalities.