A 20-year-old HIV-positive mother lost her baby as she allegedly remained unattended in her labour. The incident has been reported from a hospital in UP's Firozabad where the woman was admitted. Allegedly, the woman was left unattended for six hours while the hospital staff refused to touch her.
The woman had reportedly given birth to a baby boy who died hours after the delivery. The family alleges that the baby died due to the delay in pre-birth intervention. As per reports, doctors had only come to the rescue following the involvement of the hospital chief.
Struggling with pain for over six hours
As per reports, the woman was brought to the medical college on Monday. The family informed that her case was complicated and they had taken her first to a private hospital. Reportedly, the private hospital demanded rupees 20,000 which the family couldn't afford, so she was shifted to a government hospital. The family informed that nobody in the hospital touched the girl who was left unattended in acute pain. They informed that only after they called for the hospital-in-charge and she intervened, the operation was performed on the struggling woman.
The NGO representatives associated with the National Aids Control Organization who had witnessed the scene informed that the woman was admitted at 3 pm. She was laid on a stretcher and kept rolling in pain till 9 pm. As per the representatives, no doctor or any other medical staff performed any treatment or tests on her.
A probe has been ordered into the matter on basis of a complaint filed by the woman's family.
In Defence
As per the Firozabad Medical College principal Dr Sangeeta Aneja, the doctors weren't informed about the patient's HIV-positive status and tests were performed on her like any other regular patient.
Baby had breathing issues
After the alleged delay, a nurse had taken the woman to a labour room where she gave birth to a baby boy who had breathing difficulties. The staff had not allowed the family to see the child and it was taken to a special care unit where it passed away the next morning.
As per the family, the girl contracted the virus soon after getting married.
Stigma continues
Studies have shown that the lack of knowledge about the routes of transmission of the virus among medical students and a strong association of HIV with unethical behaviour are two major reasons why these patients might suffer discrimination at the hand of healthcare providers. People affected by the condition might also be fearful of the stigmatized attitude shown by some healthcare providers which prevents them from taking referrals at a medical centres.