MP: Woman gives birth in rickshaw after being denied admission at district hospital

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A 30-year-old woman gave birth in an auto rickshaw after being denied admittance to Neemuch District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh due to a lack of an anesthesiologist. Although the mother and infant were later admitted to the hospital and are now well, the district collector has launched an investigation into the incident, reported PTI.

According to the report, Dinesh Silavat, a blanket salesman from Gangrar in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district who now lives in Malkheda hamlet in Neemuch, said that his wife Rajni began having labour pains at about 2:30 pm on Wednesday, leading him to hurry her to the district hospital in a rickshaw.

He claimed that when he arrived at the hospital, the officials ordered him to accompany his wife to Udaipur, Rajasthan, the report added.

"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.

When hospital workers learnt about the delivery, they admitted both the lady and her newborn, Silavat said.

Dr Lad Dhakad, chief of the maternity department, stated that the anaesthetist was on leave, which prevented any caesarean deliveries. The hospital was also understaffed for routine duties, he stated.

"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 needed to be taken to a big hospital, but they stayed back. We do not admit such serious patients to avoid risk," he told PTI.

Dinesh Jain, the collector of Neemuch, claimed that he had launched an inquiry and that action would be taken if anyone was found guilty.