NOIDA: A 26-year-old woman allegedly refused admission by the Noida District Hospital in Sector 30 delivered a stillborn on a pavement outside the government health facility on Thursday, reports Shikha Salaria. The incident happened a day before another woman died of pregnancy-related complications after being turned away by eight hospitals.
Poonam, a 26-year-old woman from Sadarpur, a containment zone, was taken to the District Hospital around 9.30pm on Thursday after she went into labour. Her husband, Shailendra Kumar, a daily wage labourer, alleged that the hospital authorities refused to admit her on the pretext that she had gone to a midwife earlier.
"They asked us where we had come from. We told them we were from Sadarpur and it was a containment zone. They examined my wife for a while and asked her why we had gone to a midwife. Then they took my signatures on a few papers and referred us to GIMS (Government Institute of Medical Sciences — a designated Covid facility)," Shailendra told TOI.
The family, which had come to the hospital in an autorickshaw, tried in vain to arrange an ambulance even as Poonam cried in agony. After a few minutes, she delivered a stillborn girl on the pavement near the main gate, her family said."Had she got timely treatment, the baby could have survived. We admit we had taken her to a midwife earlier, but we brought her to the hospital immediately after the labour pains started," said Bablu, Poonams brother.
Shailendra said Poonam had not been keeping well for the past few days, but he did not have the money to get her treated in a private healthcare facility. "I used to get some work at Labour Chowk before the lockdown. But now, I am out of both work and money," he added.
The family said they also didnt get free ration under any of the schemes as they are yet to get a ration card. "I had filled my form but never got the ration card. At the time of application, the officials had said they would call me when the card was ready. But I have not heard anything from them since," Shailendra said.
Vandana Sharma, the chief medical superintendent, denied that the woman had delivered a baby on the pavement. "The woman was initially taken to a midwife. However, she was examined here. There have been instances of deliveries on the road, but certainly not that day," Dr Sharma said.
This is the third case of a patient from a containment zone allegedly being turned away by a hospital. On Friday evening, a 30-year-old pregnant woman died after being denied treatment at eight hospitals. On May 24, another pregnant woman was allegedly refused admission at the District Hospital.
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