In a shocking incident, a 30-year-old woman gave birth to a baby in an auto rickshaw after being denied admission at the Neemuch district hospital in Madhya Pradesh for want of an anaesthetist. While the mother and the child were subsequently admitted to the hospital and were doing well, the district collector ordered an inquiry into the incident.
What did the family say?
Dinesh Silavat, who hails from Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district, said that he has been living at Malkheda village of Neemuch for a few days and his wife Rajni started experiencing labour pains around 2.30 pm on Wednesday.
He rushed her to the district hospital in a rickshaw, he told the media. But the hospital staff asked him to take his wife to Udaipur, Rajasthan, he claimed.
"Despite my repeated requests, they did not budge, and women staffers told us to leave the hospital. As we came out of the hospital around 4 pm, my wife gave birth in the auto rickshaw," Silavat added.
"Some good-hearted people arranged sheets to provide privacy to my wife when she delivered the baby," he said.
He further said that the hospital staff let the woman and the baby in the hospital when they learnt about the delivery.
What did the doctor say?
Maternity department head Dr Lad Dhakad said the anaesthetist was on leave, and as a result, caesarean deliveries could not take place there. The hospital did not have enough doctors even for regular duty, he added.
"My duty was till 2 o'clock. After that the woman was brought to the hospital. When the staff informed me, I went and saw her. Her blood pressure was shooting up. The family members were told that she was needed to be taken to a big hospital, but they stayed back. We do not admit such serious patients to avoid risk," he said.
Neemuch collector Dinesh Jain said he had ordered an inquiry, and action will be taken if anyone was found guilty.
(With PTI inputs)
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