Baby dies minutes after woman forced to deliver in ambulance

Gurugram: The poor state of affairs at the gynaecology department of Gurugram's Civil Hospital leading to medical horror does not seem to cease. Not even a week has passed after a woman was forced to deliver her baby in the washroom of the government hospital, there was yet another horrific incident of medical apathy on Wednesday. With no doctors to treat, a woman was forced to give birth to her child in the ambulance of the hospital. The agony of the mother and her family only increased as the newly-born died within minutes of delivery.

Angry over the entire incident, the family then protested over the matter and demanded action against hospital authorities. "As a poor man, I cannot do anything but to rely on the Press and ask for justice. I have become a victim of medical apathy. I do not want others to face the same fate," said the father, whose newly-born baby died after medical complications.

The instances displaying lack of accountability, apathy and inhumanity seem to be not only emerging from private hospitals but also from public healthcare system of Gurugram.

On February 9, a pregnant woman was denied treatment in Gurugram hospital as she did not possess her Aadhaar card. What makes the case even more appalling is the fact that the family had pleaded that the woman did have an Aadhaar card which they left at home. Despite repeated pleas, the staff demanded that Aadhaar must be presented before admitting the patient, without taking cognisance of her medical state.

It seems no lessons have been learnt from the Aadhaar card fiasco in Gurugram's civil hospital where a pregnant woman had to deliver a baby girl outside the hospital as she did not possess the Aadhaar card at that moment. More than a month after the shocking incident occurred, there were allegations that a three-month-old boy lost his life after being unattended by the doctors on January 21. His family alleged that the doctors did not treat him as they did not have the OPD Card despite the patient being extremely critical. During the process of making the card, the condition of the patient identified as Ibrar deteriorated that subsequently resulted in the loss of his life.

Ironically, this is not a case of poor healthcare system that has been reported from Gurugram government hospital this week. On Monday, a 60-year-old had to be taken to the hospital in the vendor cart as there was no ambulance available to fetch the patient. To improve the state of public health care system, the Haryana government has decided that the capacity of the hospital will be increased from 200 to 300 beds in the future.