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Neemuch: In a tragic incident from Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, a 30-year-old woman was forced to give birth in an auto-rickshaw after she was refused admission to the district hospital due to the absence of an anesthetist. The incident has caused concern and prompted local authorities to investigate. According to officials, the mother and her newborn baby were later admitted to the hospital and were reported to be in good health.
Dinesh Silavat, who hails from the Gangrar area of Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan, and ekes out a living by selling blankets, said he has been living at Malkheda village of Neemuch for some days. His wife Rajni started having labour pains around 2.30 pm on Wednesday and he rushed her to the district hospital here in a rickshaw, he told reporters.
But the hospital staff asked him to take his wife to Udaipur, Rajasthan, he claimed. “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 the hospital staff learnt about the delivery, they let the woman and her newborn in the hospital, Silavat said.
Maternity department head Dr Lad Dhakad said the anaesthetist was on leave, and as a result, caesarean deliveries could not take place there. The hospital did not have enough doctors even for regular duty, he added.
“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 said.
Neemuch collector Dinesh Jain said he had ordered an inquiry, and action would be taken if anyone was found guilty.
The incident has highlighted significant gaps in health care access and emergency response mechanisms in rural areas. This underlines the urgent need to equip health care systems with adequate staff and resources to handle emergencies effectively, ensuring that no patient is turned away in their time of need.
