Hyderabad: A woman was forced to give birth to her child on the porch of a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Veldurthi, Medak district, during the intervening night of March 11 and 12, as the PHC premises were locked and the staff was absent.
The family of the woman, Srijana, said that when they arrived at the PHC following her labour, the door was locked. Despite repeated calls for help, no assistance arrived.
“Upon hearing our calls for help, some people from a nearby house informed us that the PHC staff had been absent for the past eight days. They provided us with the address of Narsamma, an ASHA worker,” said the mother-in-law of the woman in the video statement.
The family then went to the ASHA worker’s house. However, she mentioned that she no longer worked at the hospital. The family, who were under a immense stress, pleaded for her assistance and said they would be willing to pay her. Following that, the ASHA worker accompanied the family to the hospital where Srijana was lying on a porch.
Dr Chandu Nayak, Medak district medical and health officer, told media that the ASHA worker was terminated due to age limits and that the nurse, who lives nearby, was asleep during the incident. He assured that both mother and baby were healthy.
The family alleged that the staff nurse arrived only after the delivery at around 2 am. The family expressed frustration over the lack of medical staff at the PHC.
“One must consider the challenges if one person is expected to manage the entire hospital. The nurse used to sleep inside the hospital after securing gates from the outside. However, on the day of our arrival, she had reached a point of exhaustion and decided to sleep at a friend’s place. She left at around 11 pm, just before we arrived at midnight,” said the mother-in-law.
Meanwhile, an additional district medical and health officer (ADMHO) is conducting an inquiry into the incident, and a report on the same will be submitted soon.
Officials said further action will be taken based on the report.
