Panchagarh: A woman was forced to give birth out in the open Saturday beneath a eucalyptus tree on the grounds of an Upazila Health Complex, as nursing staff forcibly released her within hours of getting admitted in pain of labour. 

Mother Rina Begum, 30, wife of Jahidul Islam of Goalpara area in Boda, one of the 5 upazilas in Panchagarh, was admitted to the hospital that is part of the upazila health complex around 8am on Saturday, as her labor pain started last night.

According to family members, a nurse of the midwifery department of the hospital, named as Shabana Begum, issued them with a release letter around noon. It said Rina needed a c-section operation to get the baby out, and being ‘unable to provide service of Caesarean section’, hospital authorities would be releasing her so she could get admitted somewhere else that provided the c-section facility. 

Husband Jahidul accordingly went into the local market to arrange money and a ride for shifting Rina.

It was then that the staff’s behavior with heavily pregnant, in-pain-of-labour Rina began getting out of hand. Particularly Nurse Shabana’s constant pressure ‘to free the bed’ by leaving the hospital started affecting Rina negatively. 

It got to a stage where Rina, with constant labor pain, was actually forced to vacate the bed and exit the hospital building.  Accompanied by her sister-in-law Rozina, she sought out the shade under a Eucalyptus tree, and waited for her husband.  

After a while, there under the thirsty eucalyptus that nevertheless leant her its shade, Rina gave birth to her third child, a baby boy. As the news spread, a cleaner took the newborn and his mother inside the hospital again.
The incident caused a good deal of outrage on social media after it spread on Facebook, with the locals also becoming aggrieved.

Their own positions at risk of becoming untenable, Acting Civil Surgeon Dr Afroza Begum and Boda Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) went to visit the victim and handed her the princely sum of Tk 2000 to support herself.

Rina’s husband slamming the hospital authority sought exemplary punishment of them.  

Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr SIM Raziul Karim said Nurse Shabana has been show-caused for her behavior during the incident, and a probe body has been formed to investigate the matter. 
Any additional steps, as necessary, will be taken after the committee submits its probe report.