Woman in Madhya Pradesh does not get ambulance, gives birth in bus

A woman reached the government hospital in Panna in Madhya Pradesh carrying a baby she gave birth to in a bus on one hand and the umbilical cord in another, a staff nurse said on Saturday.

A resident of Ajaigarh in Panna district, Narmada Kondar, 28, reached the district hospital in a blood-soaked saree after giving birth to the baby boy in the bus as she couldn’t get an ambulance.

According to Narmada, she felt pain in lower abdomen on Friday morning. An Asha worker asked her to go to the district hospital, more than 40 km from her village.

“I was writhing in pain, and my family called for an ambulance and Janani Suraksha van, but no one responded. I came to the main road, which is 5km away from my home, on a bicycle with my aunt to catch a bus. In the bus, the pain got unbearable and I gave birth to a baby. As we didn’t have anything to cut the cord with, we continued our travel and reached Panna bus stand,” she added.

When Narmada reached the district hospital, the attendants of other patients covered her with a saree and a nurse cut the umbilical cord. Chief medical and health officer, Panna, LK Tiwari announced an inquiry in the matter.

Tiwari said, “We are probing why Narmada didn’t get an ambulance. The required action will be taken only after completion of the probe.”