Dangerous delivery: The perils of being born on the road
Woman delivers child on road after hospital turns her out.
LAYYAH:
Due to the absence of a duty doctor in Layyah’s tehsil headquarters a woman had to deliver her child on the side of a road on Monday afternoon.
According to eyewitnesses, a pregnant woman, Sameera Bibi came to the THQ hospital to give birth on Monday afternoon but was turned out of the hospital. “They told me there was no doctor at the hospital who could deliver my child and I couldn’t wait long enough to go to another hospital,” she told reporters. The woman gave birth on the road outside the THQ building. Sumera Bibi’s family protested against the hospital administration and against gynacologist Dr Saima and in-charge Dr Naeem who were not present at the hospital. “After asking around we found out that they haven’t been coming in to work for over three weeks, without any valid reason,” Sumer Bibi’s brother Altaf said. “The nurses did not admit her and after that they weren’t even willing to provide us with a stretcher. My sister had to give birth on the side of the road and we all had to provide a temporary shelter,” he said.
“We couldn’t take her in because we can’t be held responsible if something goes wrong. There was no attending on call and it is our policy not to treat patients without a doctor,” said a nurse, Sana.
She needed immediate help but there was no one on staff at the time so we sent her away,” she added.
Sumera Bibi’s mother said that while the family was shifting her to a vehicle her contractions began to speed up and they realised the baby needed to be delivered on the spot. “All we had was a bottle of water and I laid down my chaddar on the road side. My son and my husband cleared the area and we helped deliver the child,” Monzooran Bibi said.
“If something had gone wrong the hospital would have been responsible. What is the point of having a tehsil hospital if they cannot even help with a normal delivery,” Sumera Bibi’s husband Sajjad said.
Sumera Bibi’s family blocked the road and burnt tyres in protest against the hospital administration after she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The family sent her home and continued their protest for several hours. “I cannot believe that I had to deliver a child on the road. The hospital treated me like an animal and didn’t even allow me some privacy by offering me a room to deliver my baby,” she said. Hospital medical superintendent (MS) Dr Syed Mustafa Gillani said that the matter was being investigated and strict action would be taken against those responsible.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2011.
Due to the absence of a duty doctor in Layyah’s tehsil headquarters a woman had to deliver her child on the side of a road on Monday afternoon.
According to eyewitnesses, a pregnant woman, Sameera Bibi came to the THQ hospital to give birth on Monday afternoon but was turned out of the hospital. “They told me there was no doctor at the hospital who could deliver my child and I couldn’t wait long enough to go to another hospital,” she told reporters. The woman gave birth on the road outside the THQ building. Sumera Bibi’s family protested against the hospital administration and against gynacologist Dr Saima and in-charge Dr Naeem who were not present at the hospital. “After asking around we found out that they haven’t been coming in to work for over three weeks, without any valid reason,” Sumer Bibi’s brother Altaf said. “The nurses did not admit her and after that they weren’t even willing to provide us with a stretcher. My sister had to give birth on the side of the road and we all had to provide a temporary shelter,” he said.
“We couldn’t take her in because we can’t be held responsible if something goes wrong. There was no attending on call and it is our policy not to treat patients without a doctor,” said a nurse, Sana.
She needed immediate help but there was no one on staff at the time so we sent her away,” she added.
Sumera Bibi’s mother said that while the family was shifting her to a vehicle her contractions began to speed up and they realised the baby needed to be delivered on the spot. “All we had was a bottle of water and I laid down my chaddar on the road side. My son and my husband cleared the area and we helped deliver the child,” Monzooran Bibi said.
“If something had gone wrong the hospital would have been responsible. What is the point of having a tehsil hospital if they cannot even help with a normal delivery,” Sumera Bibi’s husband Sajjad said.
Sumera Bibi’s family blocked the road and burnt tyres in protest against the hospital administration after she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The family sent her home and continued their protest for several hours. “I cannot believe that I had to deliver a child on the road. The hospital treated me like an animal and didn’t even allow me some privacy by offering me a room to deliver my baby,” she said. Hospital medical superintendent (MS) Dr Syed Mustafa Gillani said that the matter was being investigated and strict action would be taken against those responsible.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2011.