Zhivka Aleksandrova went into labor and was taken to the hospital in March 2015. Immediately after being admitted, a nurse took her to the delivery room, where hospital staff inserted a peripheral venous catheter into her vein, which is a normal practice with birth cases in that hospital.

However, not only did they not explain to Aleksandrova why a catheter had to be used, what drug it contained, or what the consequences and the side effects of it might be, but they also failed to take into account her explicit refusal to receive the treatment.

Aleksandrova and her child were separated immediately following the delivery. An attending nurse abruptly took the baby away, only showing her to Aleksandrova while standing at the door a few meters away.

Not her signature

As part of a routine procedure, Aleksandrova was left lying on the birthing table for two hours, during which time the baby was kept in another room. No one gave her any information whatsoever about the condition or whereabouts of her child.

After having been allowed to get up from the bed, Aleksandrova stood waiting for someone to bring in her daughter. As this did not happen, she set off around the floors of the maternity ward to look for her baby herself. The child was finally given to her more than three hours after the birth.

Following her request to be granted access to her medical record, the claimant discovered that the signature on the informed consent declaration was not hers at all. It had been signed by another person without her knowledge.

From delivery room to courtroom

Aleksandrova began legal proceedings against the hospital in October. The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee is representing her in her claim of a violation of her right to informed consent and the unlawful separation of mother and newborn baby.

According to attorney Daniela Furtunova, this case deals not only with a breach of the claimant’s right to be informed about any procedures she would be subjected to – and a breach of her respective right to decline such procedures – but it also involves a violation of Aleksandrova’s right to respect for private and family life, guaranteed by Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria and enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Keep mothers and babies together

In regards to the separation of the newborn child from her mother, attorney Adela Kachaunova says that this runs contrary to the National Health Act, which states that new mothers and their children should be provided with a secure and peaceful environment, and it further contradicts the recommendation of the World Health Organization, which advises that babies should be placed in their mothers’ care at least once in the first 30 minutes following the birth. Says Kachaunova:

“As long as there are no medical reasons to the contrary, the normal practice that should be followed by hospitals is one which provides the patient with the utmost care and ensures a speedy recovery. For mothers and their newborn babies, this essentially means being together in the minutes after delivery.”

Zhivka Aleksandrova, insulted by the rude and unprofessional manner in which she was treated by the hospital, says she is filing the lawsuit to protect those who come next – perhaps even her own daughter:

“I do not want to forget what happened because, in some years’ time, it could be my daughter lying on that same birthing table and I want to go on living with the thought that I have spared her the huge distress I myself had to go through.”