Just yesterday, a 17-year-old teenager from India was forced to give birth on a street because a nearby hospital refused to provide medical help.
The incident occurred at approximately 4am, when a resident from the village of Saraikela Kharsawan district spotted the new mother cradling her baby girl in her lap, with the dangling umbilical cord still attached between them. The teen’s clothes were also soaked in blood, Hindustan Times reported.
The malnourished girl was so weak that she could not even muster enough energy to head to the nearby community health centre, which was merely 100 metres away, let alone move to the side of the road.
Source: Daily Mail
The local resident said, “She was in a miserable state. She was shivering and unable to lift and cuddle her infant. Heavy vehicles were crossing by but she didn’t have strength to move aside.”
Hence, the villagers had to form roadblocks around her to prevent any oncoming vehicles. The local resident explained that eventually, they approached the community health centre to take away the mother and child, but said that,
“Their response was irritating.”
Source: Daily Mail
Apparently, the medical staff refused to provide immediate help to the girl and her newborn because they needed permission from the boss as well as the teenager’s parents before taking her in, but she was not accompanied by a guardian.
In fact, they allegedly told the residents that they had to arrange their own transportation due to the unavailability of an ambulance at that time. Furious, the residents then hailed an auto rickshaw that ferried the teen and her baby girl to the Chandil Sub Divisional Hospital two hours later.
Source: Hindustan Times
Source: Daily Mail
According to Daily Mail, the poor girl had been living on the streets for the past four months because she was abandoned by her boyfriend after she became pregnant and was forced to leave home too as her family worried about their reputation and didn’t want to be shamed.
One medical officer from the hospital said, “Whatever has happened was wrong and unfortunate. There were only two nurses at the health centre, who were busy delivering twin babies when we were informed about the girl.”
Thus, there was definitely some confusion but the medical officer assured that they will look into the matter. Meanwhile, locals are still upset over the incident as they thought it could’ve been handled better.
Source: Daily Mail
The teen and baby are currently in stable condition and have since been moved to a women’s shelter in Jharkhand.
“Both mother and baby are now doing fine. We will inform her parents and hopefully she will get the support she needs,” the medical officer added.
Well, we certainly hope so too because no one should deliver a baby in such an unfortunate circumstance!
Also read: 10yo Rape Victim Who Was Denied Abortion Gives Birth, Unaware She Was Pregnant
