Woman Gives Birth On Hospital Floor After Staff Demand Paperwork Before Admitting Her; Baby Dies

A newborn baby in India died after the child's mother was forced to give birth on a hospital floor as the staff delayed admitting her, citing insufficient paperwork.

An investigation has been opened into the alleged medical negligence that happened in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, reported Times Now News. The woman was reportedly in critical condition.

The woman's relatives alleged the incident happened due to the delay caused by the hospital staff.

Local media reports identified the patient as Rani, a resident of the city of Saharanpur. She was brought to the community health center Saturday afternoon by her husband Yusuf and relatives. According to her relatives, Rani was already in labor by then, and experiencing severe pain.

However, the hospital staff insisted on the woman's diagnostic report and other details, and refused to admit her until they produced it, the family alleged. All the while, the woman sat on the floor in front of the labor room in agony.

Rani delivered the baby on the floor soon after. However, the child did not survive. Her condition worsened immediately, following which she was shifted into the intensive care unit.

The panicked family members immediately alerted the police. They also entered into an altercation with the hospital staff, accusing them of medical negligence.

The situation was brought under control only after the police arrived. The patient's sister Noor Fathima told the police the hospital staff misbehaved with the relatives.

According to the hospital in-charge, Dr. Pramod Kumar, the relatives delayed bringing the woman to the hospital, and added the child could have been saved had Rani been brought to the health center in time.

However, hours before the incident, another newborn died in the same hospital. According to the child's father Ashok Kumar, a resident of the nearby village of Ollari, his wife was taken to the hospital after experiencing labor pain. But again, the staff insisted on clearing her papers before admitting her. The woman was lying in the ambulance all the while.

Though she was later admitted, her child died due to alleged oxygen deprivation, Kumar alleged.

Even though the infant mortality rate in India has vastly improved over the years, the situation in Uttar Pradesh is still bad, said news reports.

The infant mortality rate (IMR, deaths per 1,000 live births of children under one year of age) improved in all the states between 2014 and 2019. According to last year's figures, Uttar Pradesh had a relatively poor IMR of 41, similar to countries like Sudan, Afghanistan and Niger.