Jharkhand woman gives birth to boy after govt hospital declares her foetus dead, inquiry ordered

Hazaribag: The Hazaribag district administration has ordered an inquiry, after a woman in labour was allegedly denied admission to a government hospital, where nurses declared that her baby had died in the womb, but she later gave birth to a boy at a private medical facility.

Manisha Devi's husband claimed that she travelled around 120 km with him from Chalkusha Block to reach the Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital in Hazaribag on Wednesday, only to be told by the nurses that her haemoglobin level was low and the foetus already dead.

Not losing hope, her husband Vinod Sao rushed Manisha to a private hospital in the district, where she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

“I thank doctors at the St Columba’s Mission Hospital for the safe delivery of my child,” Sao said.

Deputy Commissioner of Hazaribag, Shashi Prakash Singh, on Friday directed the superintendent of Sheikh Bhikari Medical College and Hospital to initiate an inquiry to probe into the incident.

“Government hospitals are meant to provide the best treatment at low cost to patients, which was reportedly denied here. I have directed the hospital authorities to set up an inquiry committee in this regard,” Singh said.

Dr Pravin Kumar, the owner of Sreenivas Mangalam Trust that operates the private hospital, said Manisha gave birth to the child after undergoing a series of tests at the medical facility, the reports of which were satisfactory. “Both the mother and the baby boy are safe,” Kumar said.