On September 20, a six-month pregnant Priyanka, 25, felt ill and was taken to a nursing home, where she came to know that the foetus had died inside her.
The last five days have been nothing short of a horrid nightmare for Vinay and Priyanka Pathak, who not only lost their child but were at the receiving end of a lot of pain and harassment at the hands of the Safdarjung Hospital authorities.
On September 20, a six-month pregnant Priyanka, 25, felt ill and was taken to a nursing home, where she came to know that the foetus had died inside her. "We reached the hospital late at night, after it was confirmed that the baby had died and that Priyanka needed an urgent operation. First, the authorities refused to admit my wife, who was in extreme pain. Then, they did admit her but did not attend her for an entire night. She was not even given a bed and had to wait on the floor," said Vinay, 28, an advocate practicing in Delhi.
"The next day also, nobody tended to her. When I questioned, they said it was a government hospital and this was how things were done," he added.
Priyanka waited on the floor for 24 hours, after which the family decided to shift her to another hospital, where they were told that any further delay would have led to fatal infection.
But before that, the distressed couple was subjected to even more harassment. When they requested the medical staffers and then the Chief Medical Officer of Safdarjung to discharge Priyanka, it was revealed that her records had been misplaced. She was finally discharged with a blank paper and no details about the treatment were given to her.
When queried, Dr AK Rai, Medical Superintendent of the Safdarjung Hospital, said, "It may have been a case of missed abortion, where we wait for the foetus to come out on its own. We will look into it and get back. There are so many patients and the hospital is always overcrowded. We cannot always provide beds to patients."
Finally, with the help of social activist Ashok Agarwal, the family got a bed at Mata Chanan Devi Hospital under the EWS quota, where Priyanka was operated upon immediately, and was saved just in the nick of time.
Long suffering
Priyanka waited on the floor for 24 hours, after which the family decided to shift her to another hospital
With the help of social activist Ashok Agarwal, the family got a bed at Mata Chanan Devi Hospital under the EWS quota
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