The Hindu : National : Doctors refuse to deliver baby of HIV positive woman

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Saturday, Jun 30, 2007
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Doctors refuse to deliver baby of HIV positive woman

Husband forced to deliver the child

Incident sparks outrage among medical fraternity
Woman gives birth to a boy

Meerut: In a shocking incident, a man was forced to deliver the baby of his HIV positive wife in a government hospital here after doctors allegedly refused to help because of the woman’s health condition.

Sunita alleged that her painter husband, Raees Abbas was given instructions by the doctors at the Meerut Medical College and Hospital on how to deliver the baby as they watched. “My husband cut the umbilical cord,” she said.

The incident which sparked an outrage among the medical fraternity is being investigated by the Uttar Pradesh government which said that according to a preliminary probe the Head of the Gynaecology Department and the doctor on call were guilty of negligence. It is however yet to be conclusively established that treatment was denied because the patient was HIV positive.

The incident came to light when Mr. Abbas complained to the hospital. Medical Education Minister Lalji Verma said action would be taken if any doctor was found guilty of negligence.

Mr. Abbas said he and his wife came to the hospital after the woman went into labour . The woman, who gave birth to a baby boy, alleged that the doctors refused to take her to the delivery room and instead her husband had to deliver their baby. “We faced a lot of problems. The doctors were not ready to help. My husband delivered the baby and cut the umbilical cord.”

The Head of the Gynaecology Department, Abhilasha Gupta, said she refused to “blindly believe” what is being said against the doctors.

Mr. Abbas said that after the delivery, no doctor asked about his wife’s health.

– PTI

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