Angul: In a heart-rending incident, a woman lost both of her newborn twins due to lack of immediate post-natal care, in Kangula village of Angul district.
The newborns could have easily survived had the 102 Janani Express – launched across the state with much fanfare in order to provide immediate transport to the nearest hospital for mothers post-childbirth. However, the scheme has had an abysmal record, say sources.
The woman, identified as Sumitra Jena, wife of Abhay Jena, began experiencing labour pains in the wee hours of Saturday. Her family members immediately contacted the 102 ambulance service, only to be informed that no ambulance would be coming. The reason? The crew were all asleep.
“We rang up the 102 service as soon as Sumitra started experiencing pains. Somebody picked up and said the service was not available at this hour as the staff were all asleep. We were asked to take her to hospital ourselves,” said a distraught family member.
The family members fervently and frantically tried calling the ambulance service again, but with little success. They added that it was next to impossible for them to arrange a vehicle at midnight to carry Sumitra to the district headquarters hospital, 10 km away.
Amid a long wait for the ambulance, Sumitra first gave birth to a girl. The baby was in immediate need of medical assistance.
Eventually, Abhay somehow managed to hire an auto rickshaw and rushed his wife and the newborn girl to the district headquarters hospital.
As soon as they reached the gates of the hospital, Sumitra delivered a baby boy. Nurses on duty rushed to the vehicle and took the babies to a doctor, who tried in vain to resuscitate the babies. Soon, the doctor declared both babies dead.
Sumitra went into shock at the death of her newborns and was admitted to the hospital for treatment. A pall of gloom descended on the hospital as the bereaved family members lamented that the babies could have been saved had the ambulance turned up in time to take Sumitra to hospital. PNN