Woman forced to give birth in rickshaw in Umerkot

UMERKOT: A woman was forced to deliver her child in a rickshaw outside the Peoples Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) Maternity Centre in Haji Maula Bux Rajar village on Tuesday. The healthcare facility, run under the public-private partnership model of the Sindh government, reportedly had no female medical staff when Meena, wife of Acharudd, arrived there. The administration of the maternity centre refused to admit Meena. They said the centre offered services from 9am to 2pm. Other women present in the area helped Meena deliver her baby in a rickshaw. Meena was later rushed to Umerkot Civil Hospital where her condition, and that of her newborn, was said to be stable.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2019.