A pregnant woman is now in critical condition after she was reportedly denied treatment by several hospitals in Barguna and had to give birth in a roadside garage.
Lima Akhter was admitted to Barguna Sadar Hospital on Tuesday morning when she started experiencing labor pains.
At around 10pm, a nurse at the hospital told them that delivery would not be possible there and referred them to a local private clinic ‘Al Raji.’
However, the private clinic refused to admit her. Her family was forced to go from clinic to clinic to admit her but to no avail.
At one point, near midnight, Lima gave birth at a roadside garage.
The newborn was injured in the process and severe bleeding put the mother in critical condition.
Later, they were taken to a private hospital with the help of police and locals.
Providing primary care, doctors sent both the mother and child to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal for advanced treatment.
The incident left locals enraged and calls for a investigation into the matter were made.
Advocate Sohel Hafeez, general secretary of Barguna Press Club, said: “There is a 100-bed hospital in Barguna and several private hospitals and still a woman had to give birth like this,”
Dr Sohrab Uddin, supervisor of Barguna Sadar Hospital said: “Initially, it was assumed that she would have a normal delivery. But our nurses realised that she would needa a C-sectio which is why they referred her to a private clinic.”
Responding to queries on whether C-sections are performed in the hospital, he said that no one wants to do those surgeries outside of office hours.
According to him, the hospital does not have the manpower required to manage ceaserians in three shifts.
