BIJAPUR: A pregnant and close-to-term woman had to be carried in a utensil to the nearest hospital in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district across the swollen river. The woman gave birth to a still-born infant, allegedly due to negligence on the part of the workers at the community hospital in the Bhopalpatnam area.

Block Medical Officer (BMO), Bhopalpattnam, Ajay Ramteke said that a notice had been given to the doctor and nurse, and a letter would be sent to senior officials to take action.

The woman, Lakshmi Yalam, the wife of Harish Yalam, a resident of Minakapalli, went to her mother's home in Minur. Lakshmi's sister asserted that, "We took her to a hospital 15 kilometers away. She started to feel labor pain the next day. The doctor and nurse said that there is some more time. They left after their shifts. A few hours later, they called the doctor. She gave birth to a stillborn child."

Harish Yalam filed a complaint that the stillbirth was the result of hospital workers waiting for the duty doctor to arrive to look at his wife. The incident took place on 13 July.

Harish and Lakshmi married four years ago and were expecting their first child. They stay at Mamidguda village which is 40 km away from district headquarters Bijapur. She went to her mother's home at Minur village.

Harish said that, "We had to carry Lakshmi in a big utensil, with wooden poles across it. The ambulance met us at Gorla. We reached the Bhopalpatnam hospital by 3 pm (on July 13)."

He further added that, "The afternoon-shift nurses kept visiting the room, but every time we asked for updates, we were told to be patient. Once Lakshmi began weeping in agony, I asked the workers to take us back to Bijapur if they couldn't help."

Harish asserted that, "Dr. Kishan said that if there had been a delay of half an hour, we might have lost Lakshmi as well," Harish said. He added that local residents need access to better physicians, "who are not negligent."