Palghar: A pregnant woman, who was allegedly turned away by two hospitals, gave birth in an ambulance while travelling on Wada-Bhiwandi road to the state-run civil hospital in Thane early on Friday.
Kalyani Bhoye (26), a resident of Abaje village, was first taken to a hospital in Khanivali village, but the doctors referred her to Wada rural hospital. She reached there on Thursday evening. The family claimed Bhoye wasn’t treated adequately at that hospital and after a few hours and tests, they were asked to go to the Thane hospital in a 108 ambulance. “It was early morning by the time they started out in the ambulance and the child was born around 5am on Friday,” said a family member. After the delivery, the ambulance took Bhoye and the baby back to the rural hospital for further medical care.
The state govt’s 108 ambulance service has handled 16 lakh labour- and pregnancy-related emergencies in the last decade, with almost 40,000 deliveries taking place in ambulances. These ambulances have trained paramedics and doctors. Problems, however, arise if some newborns and mothers need immediate emergency care.
Bhoye’s husband said that he is happy that his wife and newborn are safe, but the experience of running from one hospital to another was stressful, especially owing to bad roads. His family members called it unfortunate that a woman had to be referred to a far-off hospital due to poor local infrastructure.
Dr Ramdas Marad, civil surgeon of Palghar district, denied that the woman was refused treatment. The doctor on duty at the Wada hospital felt there was an issue with the foetus’ heartbeat. “She was given proper care before being referred to the Thane hospital. Our Wada hospital is equipped to carry out all types of deliveries, but given the sensitive nature of this case, she was referred to another centre,” said Dr Marad.
