UP: Dalit woman gives birth by roadside, family alleges medical negligence
Bhadohi: A 20-year-old tribal woman gave birth by the roadside outside Maharaja Chet Singh District Hospital in Gyanpur after hospital staff allegedly refused to admit her, with her family accusing a staff nurse of refusing to attend to her because she belongs to the Musahar community.
Rani Devi, a resident of Jorai village, arrived at the hospital with her family on Tuesday night while experiencing labour pains.
Her brother, Vijay Kumar, alleged that staff nurse Neelam Maurya refused to conduct the delivery and told the family that she would not attend to Rani because she belonged to the Musahar community.
The family reportedly protested, but no senior official intervened. They then began taking Rani home. However, she developed severe labour pains outside the hospital gate, where women used a sheet as a screen while assisting her with the delivery.
After being informed that Rani had delivered outside the hospital, Chief Medical Officer Dr S.K. Chak visited her home and brought both the mother and newborn to the hospital.
They were admitted to the emergency ward and provided treatment.
According to CMO Dr S.K. Chak, Rani had first visited the district hospital on Monday, where tests showed that her haemoglobin level was 5 grams. She was subsequently referred to Mirzapur Divisional Hospital.
The CMO said Rani returned from Mirzapur and visited Gyanpur District Hospital again on Tuesday night. The staff nurse and doctor referred her to Banaras Hindu University (BHU) because of her low haemoglobin level.
He said Rani and her family were unable to contact the 102 ambulance service. While returning from the hospital, she went into labour and delivered the baby by the roadside.
After the district administration was informed, Rani and her newborn were brought back to the hospital and admitted for treatment. The woman is currently receiving plasma.
The CMO constituted a four-member committee to investigate the allegations of negligence against the nurse and doctor. He said strict action would be taken against anyone found responsible.
District Magistrate Shailesh Kumar described the incident as serious and said the functioning of the concerned nurse, doctor and hospital administration would be examined.