Three women on 1 bed at Karnal maternity ward

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, July 20

Two to three women on one bed is a common sight at the gynaecology ward of the Karnal Civil Hospital, where women have been battling the agony of overcrowding alongside labour pain.

Limited space

We earlier had 20 beds. Eight more were added by turning the waiting hall into a ward. There is no further scope now.— Dr Piyush Sharma, Principal medical officer

Anti-natal, post-natal and abortion patients have been forced to put up together, exposing them to the risk of infection amid the Covid pandemic. The ward has 28 beds to deal with a huge rush of patients, including those being referred from Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, which has been converted into a Covid centre. Around 40 patients turn up daily, says an official.

“We have little choice but to share a bed. There are several beds that have three patients each. The hospital staff attribute the rush to the closure of gynae ward at the Kalpana Chawla hospital,” says a woman whose daughter-in-law delivered a child three days ago. Hospital stay is one of the most horrifying experiences for the pregnant women, who are in immense pain both before and post-delivery, claims another attendant. An official says compared to a total of 2,364 deliveries in 2019, 2,327 deliveries have already been conducted till July 19 this year. Apart from beds, the ward is facing shortage of doctors too as only one gynaecologist is available against the requirement of four.

Dr Piyush Sharma, Principal Medical Officer, maintains there definitely is a shortage of beds and doctors. “We earlier had 20 beds. Eight more were added by converting the waiting hall into a ward. There is no scope for further expansion,” he adds.