23-year-old woman gives birth after rounds of 2 hospitals and 10 hours

Woman gives birth at third hospital after gynaecologist refuses to help, and she finds civic hospital filthy, with an 'abusive nurse'

The day of the Janata Curfew began with trouble for a young 23-year-old pregnant woman from Badlapur, as she started to experience labour pains. The trauma continued as she claimed the gynaecologist who was treating her refused to provide assistance citing the curfew, and referred her to Kalwa Civic Hospital. While her family managed to get her to that hospital quickly thanks to the empty roads, she walked out as it was filthy, and finally delivered a healthy boy at a small private hospital opposite it.

According to the doctor who performed the surgery, a minor delay could have been life-threatening for both child and mother.

Shreenika Hospital where she finally delivered

As per Kehkasha's gynaecologist, her delivery date was in the first week of April. But early on Sunday severe labour began. So her family rushed her to the gynaecologist, Dr Indrayani Chandurkar. They reached her Apoorv Hospital around 6 am. "The doctor came at 10 am and told us that she was referring Kehkasha to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Kalwa Civic Hospital since because of the lockdown she could not do the surgery there. She said due to her low haemoglobin Kehkasha might require blood which could not be given there. We kept telling her there was no transport to take her to any other hospital, but the doctor said she couldn't do anything. The doctor then called an ambulance which charged R2,500 instead of R1,500," said her father, Mushtaque Khan.

'Stained bedsheet in hospital'
Her worried family managed to take Kehkasha to the civic hospital quickly, thanks to empty roads. While normally it would have taken them two and a half hours, they managed to reach in about an hour and half. But the trauma didn't end there. At the civic hospital Kehkasha saw blood stains on the bedsheet. She also saw the male staff moving around the ward. When she asked the nurse to change the bedsheet, she allegedly shouted at her. "I again requested her to at least cover the place with curtains. She then hit twice on my legs and said, 'ye sarkari aspatal hai, private nahi.' I got scared and walked out and told my parents to take me anywhere else. By then I was in severe pain," said Kehkasha.

Kehkasha's family took her to Shreenika Hospital opposite the civic hospital. The gynaecologist there, Dr Arun Gawade immediately advised surgery. The baby was born around 3 pm. Dr Gawade told mid-day, "Cases such as Kehkasha's are risky. A little more delay could have caused serious trouble to the mother and infact."

'We arranged for an ambulance'
Dr Chandurkar refuted the allegations and said, "Kehkasha was in early labour pain and her haemoglobin was down. In case of delivery she might have needed blood and there is no blood bank in Badlapur. Also, in case of a caesarean delivery, I needed a doctor who was not available because of the curfew. This was the reason I asked her if she could go to a higher health centre. She agreed and we arranged an ambulance and she went to Kalwa." The Dean of Kalwa Civic Hospital was not available for comment.

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