Unable to connect to ambulance services, 32-year-old delivers twin daughters in public toilet, one dies later

On Tuesday evening, 37-year-old Darshan Kumar, a daily wager who lives in Barola area of Noida, was frantically making calls for an ambulance

On Tuesday evening, 37-year-old Darshan Kumar, a daily wager who lives in Barola area of Noida, was frantically making calls for an ambulance. His 32-year-old wife Parwati had gone into labour.

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“No one answered our calls,” said Kumar. The couple were in an auto-rickshaw heading to a government hospital in Ghaziabad. When the pain became unbearable, the vehicle stopped near the Vijay Nagar police station and Parwati rushed to a public toilet.

“I was with her inside. I tried calling up the emergency numbers, 102 and 108, but sometimes the numbers were busy and at other times it did not connect,” said Kumar.

The police at the station rushed to help the couple and even called an ambulance from a private hospital.

In the toilet, at around 7pm, Parwati gave birth to twin girls.

“We rushed the mother and children to Flores Hospital in Vijay Nagar,” said Mahavir Singh Chauhan, SHO of Vijay Nagar police station.

While Ghaziabad SSP Kalanidhi Naithani congratulated his team on Twitter, Kumar’s troubles did not end. One of the newborns suffered complications.

“Late night, she died. I took her body in an auto to Lal Kuan at around 6am (Wednesday). From there, I boarded a mini truck and reached Sikandrabad and then took a bus to Bulandshahr. From there I called up a few villagers who arrived on a bike and took us along,” said Kumar whose native village is Bansi Nagla near Vair, almost 58km from Ghaziabad. Taking an ambulance till there was too expensive.

After performing the last rites for his daughter, he returned to Ghaziabad where his wife and daughter were still admitted.

“The other child is still sick and admitted to neonatal intensive care unit. The mother is, however, stable,” said Dr Manoj Singh, managin director, Flores Hospital.

Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr NK Gupta said that he will conduct an inquiry into the incident.

“The 102 and 108 government ambulance services are centralised and operated through a control room at Lucknow. However, I will conduct an inquiry about why the calls did not connect,” he added.

When approached over the entire incident, district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said that he will seek all details from the CMO.