Woman in labour made to wait for transport

BHUBANESWAR: A pregnant woman in labour went through an agonising time on Sunday as she failed to get any transport to the nearest hospital.
The 102 ambulance service, which is supposed to take pregnant women in distress to hospitals, also arrived after a long delay.
Sources said Anjum Begum (32), a resident of a slum near Unit IV, began experiencing labour pains at noon, following which an acquaintance of hers decided to take her to Capital Hospital, around 4km away.
The companion tried hailing a vehicle but failed. Anjum and her companion began walking to the hospital but could not proceed after reaching the BDA headquarters, 3km away from the hospital.
Passers-by and some social workers who were working in the area came to Anjum's rescue and called an ambulance.
"We were sanitising near the BDA office when we saw her collapse. We called an ambulance and police, but the ambulance took a lot of time to arrive," Pratap Sahu, president of Basti Surksha Manch, who was present at the scene, said.
Pratap said police arrived within three minutes of the call, but the ambulance arrived after 30 minutes. "The operator was unnecessarily asking about the woman's location. We repeatedly said the spot was in front of the BDA office," he said.
The woman was finally taken to Capital in the ambulance and she delivered a boy.
Asked about the alleged delay of the ambulance, a senior official of National Health Mission (Urban) told TOI that an inquiry would be launched into the matter. "If the allegation is true, we will take action," the official said.
Pratap said the situation would not have arisen had autos or other transport facilities been available.