A 28-year-old woman gave birth to quadruplets inside a rickshaw in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla district after an ambulance failed to reach her home in time, and all four newborns were declared dead on arrival at the hospital, officials said on Wednesday.
Rajni Sindaram, a resident of Naigawan village, went through severe labor pains at her home around 7 am. It was said that she was seven months pregnant.
“We immediately called 108 ambulance service but no ambulance arrived. When we saw her condition deteriorating, we called the local Authorized Social Health Worker (ASHA) and rushed her to the nearby primary health center by car at around 8 am,” said Ganesh Singaram, Rajni’s husband.
At the primary health center, the doctor provided her with initial treatment and referred her to the community health center in the town of Pichia.
“On the way, Rajni went through unbearable labor pains and gave birth to four babies (three boys and a girl) one after the other inside the rickshaw. By the time she reached the primary health care centre, doctors examined the infants and declared all four dead,” her husband said.
“The pregnancy had taken about 30 weeks. Due to premature birth, the newborns were not fully developed. By the time the woman arrived, the birth had already taken place,” said Anoop Kumar Bharatiya, Bhichia district medical officer.
He added that the weight of each child is about 1.5 kilograms.
Bharatiya said that an ASHA worker accompanied the woman the entire time, and that he had no information about the ambulance not arriving at Rajni’s house. He added that the woman’s condition is stable and is receiving treatment.
District Collector Rahul Dhoot Namdeo said the investigation was underway. He added: “We are investigating the matter. So far, it appears that the newborns died due to premature birth.”
