Odisha: Ambulance Delayed, Woman Gives Birth In Rickshaw Trolley

A woman was forced to deliver a baby in the back of a rickshaw trolley in the middle of the road when an ambulance failed to reach her residence on time. She was assisted by the rickshaw puller and some women vendors who were around. The incident took place on Monday morning in Odisha's Sandhakuda, about 100 kilometres from Bhubaneshwar.

According to reports, the mother started feeling labour pains around noon and her family called for an ambulance. However, when the ambulance was delayed, she took the rickshaw trolley to reach the hospital. She delivered a baby girl in the middle of a busy marketplace called Naubazaar, where vendors assisted her.

Ambulance Failed To Reach

Although the woman waited and endured pain for a long time, there was no sign of an ambulance. The rickshaw puller driver Hema Singh told Deccan Chronicle, "The woman had walked some way early in the morning. She was sitting near the lighthouse when I was passing by the road. She called for help and I took her to the hospital. But she delivered on the way itself."

The woman's husband, Sarafat Khan, said, "I had called the 108 ambulance but it arrived late. I will never forget the trolley rider who loaded me and my wife on it and took us to Nuabazaar. He even helped my wife deliver our baby." An ambulance later reached the spot and took the mother and the baby to Atharbanki Community Health Centre in the nearby city, Paradip. 

Dr Debabrata Sahu said, "Their health condition is stable. She should not have waited for the last minute to come to the hospital. Instead, she should have got herself admitted the minute she felt even a little bit of pain. However, everything is fine now."

Similar Incident From Odisha's Koratpur District

Recently, in Koratpur district's Lopeta village, a woman experiencing labour pain was carried to the hospital on a cot on foot. Reportedly, the roads leading to the village were not motorable, which forced Sunita Pidika's family members to carry her to the nearest road 3 kilometres away, where the ambulance was waiting. 

A report in Odisha TV explained the anger of the villagers over the plight of development in the hamlet. "Even after years of Independence, our village is yet to get a proper road. So, we had to bring my wife in a sling," Pidika's husband expressed. Another local said, "Even as the government claims spending crores of rupees in the development of rural areas, where is the money going?"