Karnataka: Woman gives birth on road; shocked CM orders probe
Surekha Deepak, a pregnant woman from Maharashtra, came to Aurad taluk hospital.
KALABURAGI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is learnt to have taken quite seriously the incident in which a woman gave birth on the road after allegedly being refused admission to the taluk hospital in Aurad, Bidar, on October 13.
In a message he tweeted on Tuesday, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “I’m shocked to learn that a pregnant woman did not get treatment in Aurad government hospital. I have asked the health department to inquire and take action.”
It may be mentioned here that on October 13, Surekha Deepak, a pregnant woman from Maharashtra came to Aurad taluk hospital. However, the medical officer Shilpa Shindhe, who was on duty, asked her to go to Bidar District Hospital, saying it was a complicated case. With no private hospitals nearby, the family had no place to go.
As Surekha’s labour pain increased, she was made to sit at the entrance of the hospital while her husband and mother tried pleading with the gynaecologist again to allow her admission. This time, the doctor allegedly threatened to call the police if they didn’t leave the premises.
Denied an ambulance and running out of options, Surekha and her family were forced to walk out of the government hospital. As they couldn’t find transport, Surekha had to walk despite the pain, till she collapsed on the road. Her mother realised the baby was coming and helped Surekha deliver a girl on the road.
Then the hospital staff relented and admitted the woman and the newborn. Dilip Kumar, the woman’s husband, had complained to the authorities that the medical officer refused to admit his wife despite several requests. “The doctor also threatened to call the police if we did not leave the hospital,” he claimed.
An inquiry by district health officials has revealed that the Aurad doctor had asked the woman to go to Bidar as she had low blood count and her legs were swollen. “But still the case could have been handled better as there was an ambulance and also a driver on duty on the day the woman was declined treatment,” the report has said.