Gujarat HC On Hospitals Denying Aid To Pregnant Women

On Thursday, January 12, the Gujarat High Court came down on the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run LG Hospital for giving itself a clean chit after denying a pregnant woman medical aid.

The Gujarat court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking its directions for penal and disciplinary action against hospital authorities for denying medical aid to pregnant women.

Hospitals Denying Pregnant Women Aid

The PIL was filed by advocate Nikunj Mevada and highlighted two incidents. One incident took place last year in January 2022 at the Mirani Maternity and Nursing Home. A pregnant woman was denied treatment as she could not afford to pay the amount sought by the hospital.

The woman later ended up delivering the child on the staircase outside the hospital entrance.

The second incident took place on February 10, 2022, when a woman in labour was allegedly denied care after she reached the LG Hospital and ended up delivering outside the hospital.

LG Hospital's legal representative Aishwarya Gupta submitted before the division bench that an internal inquiry was conducted on the same day of the incident.

The internal inquiry found that sonography was conducted and when the doctor came to check on the woman around 6 am, she was not in bed. The counsel submitted, "She had voluntarily gone outside the hospital and delivered the child… She went away on the misconception that the hospital had given her a discharge."

Chief Justice Aravind Kumar remarked that it was the hospital staff's duty to ensure she was admitted inside the labour room. He added, "By no stretch of common sense can this be accepted".

Suggested Reading: Pregnant Woman Dies After Hospital Turns Her Away For Not Having Aadhaar Card

Similar Case

Last year, a pregnant woman passed away after she was allegedly denied treatment in a hospital in Karnataka for not having an Aadhar card.

The doctor and hospital staff allegedly refused to admit the 30-year-old Kasturi, who was pregnant with twins. Reportedly, she had taken the help of neighbours to raise money for the delivery and was sent to the hospital in a rickshaw.

The neighbours alleged that the doctors and hospital staff refused to admit her and sent her back home, even though she was in pain.

Reportedly, Kasturi developed excessive bleeding after she gave birth to a male boy and passed away before delivering the second child. She and her newborn twins passed away.