In yet another shocking incident of medical negligence at government-run Sultania Zanana Hospital in Bhopal on Sunday, a newborn fell into a dustbin from the delivery table and lay there for over 10 minutes as no nurse or doctor was present to attend to the mother. Fortunately, the baby was not injured.
Sultania Zanana Hospital is affiliated to Government Gandhi Medical College.
The child's mother, Lakshmi Raikwar, was admitted to Sultania Zanana Hospital, the only government maternity hospital, on Saturday night. She came from Berasia, nearly 40km away from Bhopal. Upon admission, the on-duty doctor treated Lakshmi with basic medicines and administered an injection before leaving her all alone in the labour room.
According to family sources, when Lakshmi's mother, Sumantara Raikwar, came to meet her, she found the newborn lying in the dustbin kept beside the delivery table. Sumantara later told reporters that it was she who called doctors after seeing the baby in the dustbin. “I shouted for the doctor and nurses as there was no one to attend to the newborn. It was after this that the doctor and nurses rushed to the room and took the baby out of the dustbin," she said.
This is the third incident of major negligence in a row at the Sultania Zanana Hospital in less than a week. On Thursday, a pregnant woman named Nasreen Khan, who delivered twins, died after she fell from her bed. The Commissioner of Bhopal division had initiated an inquiry into the incident.
Similarly, on Friday, a patient who was placed on ventilator support reportedly died of complications arising from a major power blackout on Wednesday night. The victim, Jagrati, was put on ventilator support after she delivered her baby. Due to rainfall, the hospital was facing frequent power cuts and the situation became worse when there was complete blackout for the whole night on Wednesday.
However, the hospital superintendent denied the incident, saying that the power supply was immediately restored through generator.
Prenatal and postnatal care in Madhya Pradesh has come under the scanner previously with the state having the highest infant mortality rate in the country.
According to an economic survey of the Registrar General of India tabled in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly in 2017, out of every 1,000 children born, 52 die at the time of birth in Madhya Pradesh, while the national average is 39 deaths. Madhya Pradesh also has a maternal mortality rate that is worse than the national average, with inadequate facilities often forcing tribal women to give birth in the open.