Jamshedpur: Newborn dies after delivery in ambulance

Outcome of failing rural healthcare in East Singhbhum

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, June 13: The crumbling healthcare system in East Singhbhum district claimed yet another innocent life as a newborn died during delivery in an ambulance, en route to MGM Hospital, Jamshedpur, nearly 80 km away from Khadida village in Dumaria.

The victim, Madhuri Kalindi, was in severe labor pain and was taken to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Dumaria on Tuesday night. However, with no doctor present, only two nurses attempted to handle the delivery overnight but failed. By Wednesday morning, Madhuri’s condition worsened, and she was referred to MGM Hospital in a government ambulance.

During the journey, the baby got partially stuck in the birth canal, and by the time they reached MGM, doctors declared the newborn dead. Madhuri later underwent surgery to save her life and is now in stable condition.

Madhuri’s sister Komolika Kalindi alleged that the death was preventable. “If Dumaria CHC had proper facilities and doctors, the baby could have been saved,” she said.

Madhuri had returned to her maternal home in Jharkhand from Vijayanagar, Andhra Pradesh, where her husband Santosh Kalindi works as a laborer. This was the couple’s first child.

This incident highlighted the urgent need for functional healthcare infrastructure in rural Jharkhand, where access to basic medical services continued to depend on distance, luck, and survival.