ELURU: A newborn baby died allegedly after staff nurses at the Primary Health Centre at Pedapadu in West Godavari district helped the woman deliver in the absence of the duty doctor late Friday night.
It was alleged that though the family members of the woman wanted to shift her to a private hospital, the staff nurses insisted on delivering the baby at the PHC itself.
When A Jhansirani, underwent tests at the PHC, the doctor set May 27 as her delivery date.
However, Jhansirani suffered labour pains on Friday morning and was taken to the PHC. But she did not deliver till the evening giving anxious moments to her family members.
As her pains increased, the family members wanted to shift Jhansirani to a private hospital as the doctor at the PHC, Dr Sushma, was not at hand.
However, staff nurses Jayalakshmi and Sunita assured the woman that they would help her deliver safely and took her into the labour room. Soon after, the nurses told the relatives of Jhansirani that the baby died due to complications during delivery.
Furious over this, the relatives of Jhansirani staged a dharna at the hospital. “The doctor left the hospital by 11 am. Had the staff nurses allowed us to shift her to a private hospital, the mother and child might have been safe,’’ the relatives said and demanded action against the nurses.
The nurses, however, defended their decision saying that it was not the first time they delivered babies. The newborn died because of complications, they said.
Pedapadu Rural CI rushed to the village and held discussions with the family members of Jhansirani.
It is learnt that the nurses agreed to pay compensation to the victim after which the protest was called off.