Hospital in India denies newborn to Nepali woman for not paying bill

BIRGUNJ, Aug 24: At Duncan Hospital in Raxaul, India, a newborn, who has been denied her mother´s breast milk, has been wailing for 37 days. Her parents returned to Nepal after being unable to pay delivery expenses. The girl was born on July 15 at the mission hospital, where the walls are full of Jesus Christ´s quotes.

Forty kilometers away, at Charaiya village of Uchidi-3, Bara district, the newborn´s mother Shobhadevi Paswan lies in the corner of her house, wondering at the cruelty of life. [break] The thatched roof of the house that has just one room is fighting a losing battle against rain. Inside, Shobhadevi lets the milk overflowing from her breasts go in waste. For her inability to manage the sum needed to free her daughter, she is scared to visit the hospital.

On July 11, the Narayani Sub-Regional Hospital in Birgunj expressed its inability to handle Shobhadevi´s case. She went to Duncan Hospital where she gave birth to the child after four days.

“A Cesarean section had to be conducted, which was costly,” said Kamal, Shobhadevi´s husband, adding, “We couldn´t bring the child home because we couldn´t bear the surgery cost.”

According to Kamal, the hospital refused to hand over the girl to her parents despite being informed of the family´s poor financial condition. But he was told that the hospital cannot run if patients stop paying.

A kind nurse informed the Paswan couple that the girl would be fed milk, after which the couple returned to Nepal.

“We cannot manage two meals a day,” said Kamal. “I don´t know how long it could take to arrange the money and bring the daughter back.”

The estrangement has left Shobhadevi inconsolable. According to her neighbors, she wails at times.

Shobhadevi breast-fed her daughter for just two days.

“I know when she grows hungry,” she said, lamenting her inability to even go and see the newborn. “We don´t have money. I am scared to visit the hospital,” she said.

For a living, the Paswan household depends on earning made from tilling other´s land. Whatever they had saved was insufficient for the surgery, according to Nandalal, a neighbor, who estimated the total cost of the surgery to be between Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000.

According to Kamal, donation from villagers and loan taken from a neighbor was not enough to pay the medical bill.

The hospital has refused to comment on the matter. A nurse who had agreed to allow Republica to look at the newborn was eventually stopped by a gynecologist. “We will allow only the girl´s parents to look at her,” the gynecologist said. “We won´t say anything more.”