Kedarnath woman gives birth on way to hospital, newborn dies

Unable to reach hospital due to a blocked highway, a woman gave birth to her child on the way, in Kedarnath town of Rudraprayag district on Sunday. The child died soon after the birth due to lack of medical attention.

The national highway 107, connecting Rishikesh to Kedarnath, was blocked due to a landslide.

According to reports, the pregnant woman, Mohita, 22, resident of Lwara village in the district, complained of pain in her stomach. Since the highway was blocked, Mohita, accompanied by her mother-in-law Asha, attempted a shortcut to reach a hospital at Phata, 32 km from Kedarnath. On the way, Mohita went into labour and delivered the baby, which died soon after the birth.

Rudraprayag chief medical officer (CMO) SK Jha said, “She (Mohita) did not say (to her mother-in-law) it was labour pain. Her due date was August 30 and during her ultrasound, she had been informed that the baby is inverted. The ANM workers had told her to get admitted into the hospital a week before her delivery.”

The CMO said that investigations found Mohita at fault. “Even after the pain started, she didn’t inform any Asha worker nearby when she had been told that is baby is breached,” Jha added.

“We have an ANM worker there who the locals trust a lot. She is the one who facilitates most of the deliveries. Even though the nearest hospital to them was in Guptkashi, they decided to take the opposite route to go to Phata, which is 14 kms away from Guptkashi,” Jha further added. He claimed that the hospital at Guptkashi had sufficient staff and facilities.

The CMO said, “A local informed the ANM workers at the Phata hospital that a woman was in labour. By the time they reached, the delivery was almost done. The child could not be saved. Mohita was taken to the hospital and admitted there yesterday. She is fine.”

He said the Asha and ANM workers have been strictly instructed to admit all pregnant women to the hospital at least a week before their due date to avoid such circumstances. “However, in this case, there was still time,” he added.

First Published: Aug 13, 2018 22:16 IST