Following the incident, relatives of the woman staged a demonstration outside the hospital, shouting slogans and demanding action.
A 21-year-old woman died in an ambulance outside Gurgaon’s Civil Hospital on Thursday morning, as the vehicle allegedly waited for a doctor to accompany her to Safdarjung Hospital. Sources said the hospital referred her to Delhi, following complications after she gave birth.
Hours earlier, the woman had given birth to her first child — a boy — who also died minutes after he was born.
Following the incident, relatives of the woman staged a demonstration outside the hospital, shouting slogans and demanding action.
Officials at the hospital, meanwhile, have offered reassurance that the matter is being probed. “We have formed a team to look into the matter. If any of our doctors or members of the staff are found to be at fault, action will be taken against them,” said Gulshan Arora, Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
The woman, Neha, lived in Gurgaon’s Sarhaul along with her husband, Raju, who works as a security guard. “We had taken her to the hospital around 3 am on Thursday morning. The doctors admitted her and took her to the labour room. They did not let us accompany her inside,” said her brother-in-law, Ankit. “An hour later, they came out and said that she had given birth to a boy. We were ecstatic. But moments later, they re-emerged and told us the child had died,” he added.
Neha’s relatives have alleged that although the doctors had repeatedly reassured them that she was healthy and “doing well”, at 8 am they suddenly suggested that she be transferred to Delhi due to complications. “We instantly agreed, and they put her inside an ambulance. However, the driver and helper kept insisting that we had to wait for a doctor to accompany her. The vehicle remained stationary for over half-an-hour — just standing outside the hospital…,” alleged Ankit.
“We tried to coax them to head to Safdurjung or speed up the doctor’s arrival, but to no avail. She died in the ambulance itself, and the doctor who they said was coming never arrived,” he further alleged. As officals claimed they are looking into the matter, Raju returned to his native home in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday night, with two bodies – one of his wife and the other of his newborn son.