Woman delivers baby under torchlight after power cut

A pregnant woman gave birth to a girl at a government hospital in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district under torchlight because of power outage on Sunday.

On Saturday, 23-year-old Radha Sharma was rushed to Nadbai Community Health Centre (CHC) for delivery. She delivered her baby at 5:30 am on Sunday under torchlight due to power cut.

The health centre has a power generator that has been inactive for the last two years. Early on Sunday, when she was taken to the labour room, the nursing staff asked for torch and candles from her relatives to make up for the power outage.

Manish Upadhyay, the woman’s husband, said, “The nursing staff asked for torch before delivery.”

Locals led by block Congress president Prashant Upadhyay staged protest and burnt effigy of chief minister Vasundhara Raje over lack of facilities in health centres.

However, in-charge of CHC Nadbai, Sahav Singh Meena, refuted all allegations of the woman’s kin and said that the health centre has an inverter that can be used during power outages.

According to health department data of maternal mortality rate, since April 2017, 37 women have died during delivery at health centres or being unable to reach health centres on time.

According to the recent Health Index Report released by NITI Aayog, neonatal morality rate (NMR) has come down to 30 per 1000 live births from 32 and under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) is down to 50 from 51.

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