Woman delivers baby in van

With no stretchers or ward boys available at Sassoon, 23-year-old pregnant woman from Aundh forced to deliver baby in vehicle her husband drove her to hospital in

With no stretchers or ward boys available at Sassoon, 23-year-old pregnant woman from Aundh forced to deliver baby in vehicle her husband drove her to hospital in
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Ashwini Sathe (23) would never have thought that she would have to deliver her newborn baby in a van. It was an equally traumatic time for her husband Anand, who was with her on Sunday night.

After the ordeal: Anand and Ashwini Sathe with the baby at their residence. Pic/Jignesh Mistry

Ashwini's husband rushed her to Sassoon hospital in their private van when she went into labour. They travelled from Aundh to Sassoon hospital in the evening, but they did not get any assistance in admitting her to the ward.

Anand waited at the entrance of the hospital looking for the ward boys. But there was nobody. In the meantime, his wife delivered the baby inside the van. Realising that his wife needed immediate medical help, he drove inside the hospital towards the main building. Fortunately, the workers from other department in the hospital helped Anand to go to the casualty ward, which was the nearest ward in the hospital. The umbilical cord of the baby was cut by Chief Medical Officer Dr Ghome.

Anand thanked Arun Kamble and Ganesh Rohidas Jadhav the Sassoon hospital staff workers, who are also the president and vice-president of Maharashtra Navnirman Kamgar Sena. Ashwini was also helped by a woman worker Meera Khatri and male ward boy Anand Londhe.u00a0

u00a0"There were no ward boys available at Sassoon even in the early evening. I never expected the delivery to happen on Sunday. The doctors had given her the delivery date on February 11. My baby was born 12 days earlier than the due date. Fortunately, the delivery was normal and natural," said Anand
Dr P S Pawar, Superintendent, Sassoon hospital, said, "We will take necessary steps and the issue will be discussed with dean Dr Renu Bharadwaj for further action.