Srinagar, May 26: Three expecting mothers lying on a bed. One of them about to undergo delivery while almost every Tom, Dick and Harry watching the medicos do the procedure expected to be done in privacy. This is no roadside clinic but the Labour Room of Valley’s sole maternity hospital, the Lal Ded Hospital
 The entry is so easy into this restricted area that this scribe managed to have a look inside without facing any hindrance from the security people. Ironically, more than the female attendants, males could be seen moving around there.
 “My sister is expected to deliver a baby for the past two days but we couldn’t get a separate bed for her as she has been sharing the facility with two other women,” said Showkat Ahmed while standing with others at the Labour Room.
 A doctor who was irked by the presence of the “too many visitors” said the ward even lacks requisite infrastructure for deliveries.
 “Firstly the beds remain over crowded, which is simply violation of basic right of a patient for treatment at a government run hospital,” said an elderly medico requesting not to be named.
 She said the Labour Room doesn’t have oxygen facility with all the beds.
 “Patient who needs oxygen supply has to be ferried to a particular bed which is equipped with the facility,” she explained adding the “problem could be imagined if oxygen equipped bed is already occupied.”
 “Moreover, let’s mind that the all the beds remain over crowded all the time. What if all the patients need oxygen at a moment,” she feared.
 Besides, she said a Labour Room needs separate arrangements for “precious pregnancies.”
 “Pregnancies with medical disorders like hypertension, diabetes need separate accommodation and special attention… But presently all is in a mess,” said a Consultant.
 As about the “free entry to visitors” into the restricted area, the consultant said: “There was a time when no more than a female attendant was allowed inside. But presently the unit looks like a bus stand.”
 She said the medicos at times feel it inconvenient to do the delivery procedures before the men visitors.
 “I wonder why can’t the security be improved, at-least to uphold the sanctity of Labour Room if not other units of the hospital,” she said.
 A senior official at L D Hospital admitted the lack of facilities in the Labour Room. He however downplayed the matter of privacy saying the security is alert all the times.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 27 May 2011 00:00:00 IST