Dubai Civil Court has ruled that two doctors and two nurses at a private hospital must pay AED 200,000 in compensation to the grieving parents of a baby who died in the womb during delivery.
According to a report by Al Khaleej, the court found the medical staff guilty of serious negligence, citing multiple errors that directly caused the tragedy. In addition to the payout, the ruling also imposed 5 percent legal interest until full settlement, along with court fees and expenses.
The case began when an Arab couple filed a lawsuit seeking AED 499,000 in damages, describing the wife’s physical and psychological suffering after losing her child and the emotional toll on her husband. Records revealed that the mother had been under hospital supervision throughout her pregnancy, but staff failed to properly monitor the fetal heart rate and respond to warning signs during delivery.
Investigations by Dubai Health Authority’s Medical Liability Committee confirmed grave lapses in care, including misreading fetal monitors, failing to classify the pregnancy as high-risk, stopping the monitoring device, and neglecting to track the baby’s heartbeat for an extended time. Each of the four medical professionals was assigned 25 percent responsibility. The Higher Medical Liability Committee later upheld these findings when the defendants appealed.
The hospital denied negligence, suggesting that the baby’s death may have been due to natural complications like umbilical cord entanglement or genetic factors. They also claimed the monitoring device was removed temporarily at the mother’s request.
Legal expert Dr. Alaa Nasr, speaking to Al Khaleej, explained that under Federal Decree Law No. 4 of 2016, medical liability committees hold authority to determine errors and accountability. “Their final reports are binding and not subject to appeal,” he said, noting that the court’s decision also drew from provisions of the Civil Transactions Law, which requires compensation proportional to the harm suffered.
