Woman forced to give birth in rickshaw over coronavirus concerns

HYDERABAD: In an unfortunate turn of events, a woman was forced to give birth to a child in a rickshaw after she was barred to enter the Civil Hospital Hyderabad premises over coronavirus concerns, ARY NEWS reported on Thursday.

The woman, who hailed from the Latifabad area of the city, reached the hospital for giving birth to a child but staffers at the gynae ward neglected her and refused to offer any treatment over concerns that she might be carrying coronavirus.

A ‘massi’ (female employee) at the hospital covered the rickshaw with a piece of cloth and tried to give birth to the child in the vehicle. However, after failure in her efforts, the woman had to be shifted to a hospital ward in a critical condition.

The family claimed that even ambulance was not ready to take the pregnant woman to the hospital, forcing them to take her in a rickshaw.

The ARY correspondent repeatedly tried to approach the Medical Superintendent (MS) Civil Hospital for comments on the matter, however, his phone number remained switched off.

It is pertinent to mention here that incidents of women forced to give birth outside hospitals in a miserable condition have been reported time and again, however, no strict action is being taken against those responsible for it.

In one such incident, a woman was forced to give birth to her baby on a government hospital’s floor owing to alleged negligence of its staffers in Shikarpur district of Sindh.

According to official sources, the pregnant woman was brought to the Civil Hospital, Shikarpur early on Tuesday for delivery.

Read More: Woman with COVID-19 gives birth to healthy baby

A lady doctor at the medical facility advised her to get her medical tests, including an ultrasound scan, conducted. The woman ran from pillar to post for the purpose for about three hours but to no avail.

She delivered her baby in the hospital corridor outside its lab. Even then, the hospital staff didn’t come to her rescue as her family members were seen tending to her.

The hospital administration didn’t even provide an ambulance to transport her to her house.