Infant dies in hospital, family blames lack of oxygen supply

A one-day-old baby died due to lack of oxygen supply at a Delhi government hospital, parents of the child alleged.

The baby girl was born at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital in northeast Delhi’s Shastri Park area on Wednesday. The infant’s condition deteriorated after her birth due to breathing issues and low heart rate, but the hospital did not have ventilator facility.

“The doctor there gave a written reference to shift the baby to either LNJP (Lok Nayak Jai Prakash), GTB (Guru Teg Bahadur), or Chacha Nehru Hospital. But none of the hospitals admitted the baby,” said Rizwan Ahmad, the grandfather of the infant.

“The LNJP emergency ward and GTB said that they are full and don’t have any more beds to

◗ The infant’s condition deteriorated after her birth due to breathing issues and low heart rate

spare. The Chacha Nehru Hospital kept me waiting for two hours and then asked me to leave,” said the grandfather.

His son, the father of the baby who works at a medical store, is admitted in another hospital due to dengue fever. The family was meanwhile handed a self-inflating bag or Ambu bag to pump air into the infant, which they did for several hours. “But we could not save her,” said 55-year-old Ahmad.

The family was informed at 4 am on Thursday morning that the infant did not survive.

The medical superintendent of the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital did not respond to the calls or messages sent to him in connection with the incident. Meanwhile, officials at GTB Hospital said that no such incident was reported to them.

The family said that they made all possible efforts from calling the anti-corruption helpline number 1031 to contacting their local MLA for help, but all was in vain.

“I informed the people at the anti-corruption helpline that no hospital is ready to admit the baby even when we have a reference from Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital. They kept on telling me that the complaint is being processed and that they are looking into it. The last call I made was at 12.30 am, but nothing came of it,” said Mr Ahmad.

The grandfather then approached the Gandhi Nagar MLA, Anil Kumar Bajpai, who asked him to admit the baby to a private hospital.