A 22-year-old Bengaluru woman delivered a stillborn baby inside an autorickshaw outside KC General Hospital in Bengaluru on Monday.
Nivedha, a resident of Srirampura, had visited KC General Hospital at 2 am on Monday morning when she was told by hospital authorities that her baby was dead. She left along with her family to seek a second opinion and visited Victoria Hospital but she was turned away since it is a designated COVID-19 hospital. She then visited a maternity clinic in Srirampura where she was once again turned away and asked to visit KC General Hospital.
Nivedha returned to KC General Hospital at 8:45 am on Monday morning by which time she was undergoing unbearable pain. Nivedha's mother Kumuda told Times of India that they were made to wait outside KC General Hospital when they returned in the morning. Nivedha delivered the stillborn baby inside the autorickshaw before she was admitted in KC General Hospital, where she is currently stable and recovering.
Venkateshiah, Medical Superintendent of KC General Hospital, stated that doctors at the hospital observed fetal maceration, a sign that the baby died days ago and not during labour.
"We enquired about this incident and we were told that the gynaecologist informed the family when they visited the hospital at 2:30 am that the child is dead. The family sought a second opinion and this caused a lapse of 6 hours. When the family returned at 8:45 am, the woman was in the second to third stage and the process of delivery was started inside the auto outside the labour ward. It was completed after she was admitted at the hospital," Venkateshaiah told TNM
The Medical Superintendent said that the mother is currently stable and recovering at the hospital.
Hospital authorities stated that the family disagreed with the advice given by doctors. "She had no symptoms of COVID-19 but we also handle pregnancies among COVID-19 patients. We have treated 12 such pregnant patients too," Venkateshaiah, Medical Superintendent, added.
The incident occurred on a day Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K announced that 118 pregnant women who tested positive for coronavirus had delivered babies at the Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. All 118 babies tested negative, Sudhakar said. He also urged private hospitals to take up deliveries of women who tested positive for COVID-19.
Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged the state government to take action against the hospitals which denied treatment to the woman. "A pregnant woman, who was experiencing labour pain, was denied treatment by many hospitals in Bengaluru. She lost her newborn baby after delivering it in an autorickshaw. I urge the CM to take action against all those hospitals that denied treatment," Siddaramaiah said.
A pregnant woman, who was experiencing labour pain, was denied treatment by many hospitals in Bengaluru. She lost her newborn baby after delivering it in an autorickshaw.@CMofKarnataka, I urge you to take action against all those hospitals that denied treatment.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 20, 2020
1/2 pic.twitter.com/mplS2mLUU6