Jaipur:
In a shocking case of medical negligence, a woman gave birth to a premature baby just outside the biggest women's hospital in Jaipur.
Meera Devi is stunned by the tragedy that has hit her. Six months into her pregnancy, she came for a check up with her husband Ram Ruttan to Jaipur's Zenana hospital on Saturday. On reaching the hospital she began feeling labour pains. Though her husband cried for help for almost an hour, the hospital staff ignored her trauma.
Eventually, Meera's baby was delivered on the hospital's pavement and died within minutes.
"If somebody had taken care, why would my child have died? They just kept directing me from one ward to the other but nobody helped. Later they said what could they do if the delivery happened outside. They said bring them in but I told them how can I bring her in my arms when she has just delivered a baby," said Ram Ruttan said.
But doctors insist there was no negligence on the part of the medical staff. They argue that it was a premature delivery and the newborn died because the woman was only six months pregnant. But after public outrage on the issue, the government has ordered a probe.
"We will question the patient, her relatives, eyewitnesses, our doctors and nurses on duty. In our investigation we will find out why there was delay and whether there was any negligence. And based on our findings, we will take action," said Shashi Gupta, Superintendent, Zenana Hospital.
The government has promised to complete the enquiry within a week but even tough action against the guilty will be no compensation for a couple who have lost a daughter who would've been their first child.