A couple is suing a California hospital after doctors performed an emergency C-section on the patient without anaesthesia. In 2017, Delfina Mota, 26 was 41 weeks pregnant when doctors at Tri-City Medical Center rushed her into the operating room for an emergency C-section, the mom of two told People. In her legal complaint, the mother claims that with no anaesthesiologist around, panicked doctors delivered the baby without the drugs. Her fiancé claims that they were offered 25-dollar gift certificate as damage control.

Delfina said, “I was crying because I was scared, I didn’t know what was going on. I was laying there, and obstetrician Dr Sandra Lopez was like, ‘We have to just do it’. That’s when I felt them cut me open. Nurses were holding me down. I could feel her cutting me, with her hands, opening me. That’s when I passed out.” Delfina’s boyfriend, Paul Iheanachor sat worried outside the delivery room and he heard hospital officials call the anaesthesiologist Dr David Seif on the loudspeaker several times.

When Delfina went into labour her blood pressure dipped dangerously low, as per media reports. Paul, 35, recalled being physically restrained by employees from going into the room where Delfina was screaming. “I heard the most horrific screams you could ever imagine, multiple screams. Horrific screams and then silence. That’s when I got really emotional and tried to get into the room,” says Paul.

The couple is now suing the hospital, Lopez and Seif for medical malpractice, assault and battery – seeking more than 5 million dollars in damages according to the suit obtained by People. “They kept asking what we remember. They tried to smooth it over and said, ‘These things happen’,” Paul alleges of hospital staff. “They gave us a double room, so I could stay. They gave us a 25-dollar gift certificate to the gift shop. They said, ‘Sorry for what happened, here’s a gift certificate’. I feel like it was damage control. We were just in shock.”

The hospital officials did not immediately respond but in a statement to The San Diego Union-Tribune they denied the allegations. The statement reportedly reads: “While we normally don’t comment on pending litigation, the patient’s public discussion of the care she received during her emergency C-section compels us to address this outrageous allegation. The patient was administered anaesthesia prior to the surgery. We are pleased that the baby is ‘healthy’ and ‘happy’.”

It has been eight months since the horrifying incident and Delfina claims that she is still in pain from the procedure. “I still don’t feel myself. It’s something traumatic. I’m scared now to have another baby,” says Delfina. “I did not feel connected with my daughter. I was really depressed and my stomach took a lot longer to heal.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2018 03:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).