A 28-year-old woman from Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla district gave birth to quadruplets inside an autorickshaw while being rushed to a hospital, after she was allegedly unable to get an ambulance in time. Tragically, all four premature newborns died shortly after birth.
The incident occurred on Tuesday in Naiganwa village under Bichhiya block. According to the family, Rajni Singram developed severe labour pain during the seventh month of her pregnancy. They first contacted the 108 ambulance service, but when no vehicle arrived, they arranged a private autorickshaw to take her to the Ghutas Primary Health Centre. After initial treatment, doctors referred her to the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Bichhiya.
Before the autorickshaw could reach the hospital, Rajni delivered the four babies inside the vehicle. Doctors at the CHC declared all four newborns dead on arrival. Rajni was admitted for treatment and is reportedly stable. The newborns included three boys and one girl.
Rajni’s husband, Dhanesh, alleged that the lack of ambulance services forced them to take her in an autorickshaw, resulting in the premature delivery and the subsequent death of their babies. Bichhiya Block Medical Officer Dr Anoop Kumar Bharti said the woman was around 30 weeks pregnant and the babies were born prematurely, with very low birth weight.
Senior health officials at the Mandla district hospital stated that the babies weighed around 1.5 kg each and died due to complications arising from premature birth. The family, however, insisted that timely ambulance services and quicker access to specialised medical care could have improved the newborns’ chances of survival.
