Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday ordered a probe after a woman gave birth to a baby on a road, reportedly after doctors at Lal Ded hospital in Srinagar did not allow her to stay in the hospital overnight.
The doctors at the largest maternity hospital in Srinagar reportedly refused to admit the woman on Thursday who had reached the facility from far-flung area of Moori, Kalaroose in frontier district of Kupwara.
Divisional commissioner Kashmir Baseer Khan said that an order has been issued to Principal/Dean GMC requiring him to look into the factual position with respect to denial of entry of the pregnant woman into the hospital leading her delivering on the road and subsequently death of her baby girl, news agency GNS reported.
“This incident needs a thorough inquiry to find out the factual position, so that appropriate action is taken against the concerned if found liable for such negligence/ act,” read the order issued by the divisional commissioner.
It added: “You are accordingly directed to enquire into the matter and furnish the inquiry report along with your explicit comments within two days, treating the matter most urgent.”
Talking to GNS, Medical Superintendent of Lal Ded hospital, Dr Shabir Siddique said that the matter has been already taken up with the head of the Department Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr Farhat Jabeen.
“Pending inquiry, the doctor(s) who was/were on duty on Thursday has been attached to Principal GMC, Srinagar,” Dr Siddique said.
The woman, identified as Suraya, had developed labour pain on Thursday at her home.
“With nearly 3-feet snow in the area, the roads between Mooree and Kalaroos, where the nearest hospital is located, were not motorable,” reported The Indian Express. “Around 15 people put my sister on a charpoy and we walked for six hours to reach the hospital (in Kalaroos, around 14 km away),” the report quoted woman’s brother Zaman as having said.
He said the doctors there referred her to Kupwara hospital, from where she was referred further to Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar.
At Lal Ded, the family said, Suraya was kept under observation for a few hours. Hospital authorities subsequently refused to admit her, they said.
Zaman said, “At around 8.30 pm, my sister developed severe pain again and delivered a baby girl on the road. The new-born died immediately,” Zaman said.
Dr Firdous Ahmad, Block Medical Officer (BMO) of Kalaroos, said he contacted doctors at Lal Ded after learning about the family’s ordeals. “We are pained. Since we couldn’t handle the case here because it was serious, we had no option but to refer the patient further,” he said.
Meanwhile, the family claimed that the baby could have survived had the doctors in Kalaroos not referred her to Srinagar.
“Action should also be taken against those who referred us to Srinagar from Kupwara hospital and also those who asked us to wait and bring the woman on Friday at the LD hospital,” a family member demanded.