Woman gives birth in bathroom after Raiwind hospital refuses entry

A woman, after being refused entry into a hospital in Lahore’s Raiwind area due to lack of facilities, gave birth to a baby in her home’s bathroom.

According to details, the woman was taken to the Rural Health Centre Raiwind on Monday evening after she started experiencing labour pains, her relatives said. But the staff at the health centre refused to admit her, reportedly because of lack of facilities, and told the woman to return to the hospital in the morning, saying she would not give birth until then.

The family requested the staff to allow them to spend the night at the hospital as they could not afford the transportation cost of coming back. But the staff refused and forced them to leave the hospital.

The woman, who is the wife of a labourer, was then taken home where she ended up giving birth in a bathroom.

The baby boy born fell ill soon after birth and the family had to bring him to the hospital again. He was admitted and is recovering at the health centre.

The woman’s relatives protested at the health centre, saying Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif should seal all government hospitals if they cannot provide health facilities to the poor.

The secretary of Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department formed a three-member committee headed by the CEO of Lahore’s District Health Authority to probe the incident.

According to a notification, the committee was directed to submit its fact-finding report to the secretary on Tuesday.

The incident comes months after another woman in Raiwind gave birth outside the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ), Raiwind after staff at the hospital refused to treat her.

Initial investigation conducted by the hospital had suggested that a lady health worker refused the woman — who was experiencing severe labour pains — any medical help because “there were no doctors available at the hospital in the early hours of the morning”.