Manipur: 'Denied' admission by hospitals, woman dies with unborn baby

Imphal: In what could be termed as medical negligence and irresponsibility, a-20-year-old pregnant woman from Manipur’s Noney district allegedly died after five hospitals turned her away in Imphal on Thursday morning.

The woman, identified as Kanpatliu Kamei, wife of Roshan Balang from Puichi village under Nungba sub-division of Noney district, allegedly died due to denial of medical help for child delivery by five hospitals, including JNIMS and RIMS, around 4 am. They were currently residing at Makuiluangdi village in Senapati district.

“My daughter struggled for nearly 24 hours without getting help from any hospital we went to and she finally lost her breath in front of Shija Hospital before we approached the administration,” said the mother of the deceased, Athona Kamei, over telephone.

According to Athona, they took her daughter to Senapati Hospital around 2 pm on Wednesday and the doctors at the hospital assured that normal delivery will be done by them. However, by around 10:30 at night, doctors advised the family to take the patient to Imphal due to further complications of delivery.

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“We were told that the baby had died in her womb but to deliver the baby, doctors referred us to take her to JNIMS in Imphal,” said the devastated mother.

Unfortunately, the hope to save the young mother was crashed when hospitals in Imphal denied admission on the pretext of non-availability of doctors despite showing the COVID-19 negative test result to them.

In a rare inhumane act, the same nurses who knew the danger more than anybody else refused to give her entry saying there are no doctors to treat her, reports said.

The young woman, accompanied by her husband and mother, knocked the doors of even Imphal Hospital, besides two more private hospitals, but were refused admission again despite the serious condition of the patient, as per family sources.

As per the deceased mother, the mortal remains of her daughter and the unborn baby have been taken at her village for burial.

“The duty of doctors and nurses is to serve the sick person, no matter the kind of ailments the patients have. And if they can’t render their services in times of such medical emergency, then who will help the patients,” the deceased mother questioned.

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