After ambulance delay, woman delivers stillborn

PALGHAR: After a 24-year-old woman gave birth to a stillborn girl child in a Nashik hospital on June 11 night, her husband had to carry the infant’s body in a bag (thaili) from Nashik to his village in Mokhada (a distance of around 70kms) to bury it.

The family also alleged the loss of pregnancy was due to the delay in the arrival of ambulance and lack of tertiary medical facilities at their disposal. The family claimed the mother, Avita Sakharam Kavar, was in pain since early morning June 11, and had called asha workers for help, who in turn called the ambulance services, but in vain. Later, a private vehicle was arranged by asha workers and Avita was taken to the Khodala primary health centre (PHC) but was immediately referred to Mokhada rural hospital as heart beats of the baby couldn’t be found.

At Mokhada, the baby was declared dead, and since Ankita had high fever and Mokhada rural hospital didn’t have any tertiary facilities, she was again referred to Nashik civil hospital, where she was operated on and the stillborn was handed over to the couple.

Since the couple couldn’t afford an ambulance, Sakharam (Avita’s husband) carried the dead infant in a bag to their village in Jogalwadi, Mokhada taluka, in a bus.

The baby was later buried in the village. Both the husband and wife work as labourers in a brick kiln in Ambernath. The family also claimed that on both the occasions, from home to Khodala and from Khodala to Mokhada rural hospital, the ambulance took hours to arrive. Santosh Chaudhari, a medical officer with Palghar district, said the woman came to Jogalwadi village in the month of March, checked by asha workers and found to be normal. He also confirmed that since there were no tertiary treatment facilities at the Mokhada rural hospital and for the patient’s well-being, it was important that she be sent to a tertiary hospital, and hence she was further referred to a Nashik hospital.