MP Toshima Karki Questions Government and Hospital Administration Over Woman Giving Birth Outside Hospital

Kathmandu. Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) MP Dr. Toshima Karki has raised serious questions against the government and hospital administration over an incident where a woman gave birth outside the premises of Gajendra Narayan Singh Sagarmatha Hospital in Rajbiraj. Speaking in the House of Representatives meeting on Friday, she raised such questions. She stated that the hospital administration's negligence led to a situation where a woman in labor had to give birth outside the hospital premises, when she should have been immediately admitted to the hospital and arrangements made for a safe delivery. She also drew the government's attention to the fact that although the constitution guarantees the right to health, safe motherhood, and reproductive health, citizens are not experiencing it in practice. She also objected to the irresponsible response from the hospital administration, which stated that they had no information about when and how the patient left. Babita Paswan, wife of Hira Ram Paswan, a resident of Rajbiraj Municipality-14 Parsahi, was taken to the hospital after experiencing labor pains, but the hospital refused to admit her, citing that she did not have the necessary amount for treatment. It is reported that Paswan had only 2,500 rupees at the time, and for that reason, the hospital did not admit her. Speaking about the gap between the constitution and practice, MP Karki said, 'We have written the right to health in the constitution, the right to safe motherhood and reproductive health. But why is there such a big gap between the free service written on paper and the actual practical service that citizens receive, Mr. Speaker? I have some questions.' Speaking about the hospital's responsibility, she said, 'The woman was in labor pains, she should have been admitted immediately and told, 'Don't go anywhere, your cervix has opened, we will continuously monitor you.'' Expressing objection to the hospital administration's response, she added, 'Was that said or not? And can the hospital say that we have no information about when the patient left?' She emphasized that the state's reach should extend to every mother and woman in labor pains like Babita.