Believe it or not, a good number of newborn babies with their mothers find their living place on the open space due to shortage of beds at the gynaecology ward of Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal.

Exposed to dust and cold during the ongoing winter, they have to live amid the adversities in a congested environment on the corridor and veranda.

Mamun from Mehendiganj upazila in Barisal brought his wife there for safe delivery and better treatment.

“But I could not manage a bed inside the ward. My wife gave birth to twins, and they are staying at an open space,” he told this correspondent during his visit to the hospital a couple of days ago. 

Like them, many other parents were lying on the floor with their newborn babies due to the shortage of beds and rooms in the hospital.

The babies were screaming frequently, showing signs of their discomfort.     

“I am worried about my newborn baby's safety here as people often walk beside and the dust from their shoes gathers on the bed. I wrap my son with cloth and have to change it after every half an hour due to the dust,” said Nasrin Aktar, who came from Bhandaria of Pirojpur. 

“We have been staying on the floor outside the ward for seven days amid various problems. It is embarrassing to breastfeed my child at an open crowded place,” said another patient Rabeya.

The dresses of the babies and the mothers cannot be washed properly due to shortage of bathrooms, said several attendants.

Inadequate toilets add to the situation, they said.

“There are 26 beds in the gynaecology ward but 100 to 140 patients remain admitted under it regularly as 25 to 40 serious patients come here daily,” said a senior staff nurse of the ward.

Over a hundred mothers and their babies were staying on the floor when this reporter visited the hospital a couple of days ago.

“We conduct 20 to 25 operations, mostly on delivery patients, but the air conditioner of the operation room of the gynaecology ward is not working well,” said Shikha Saha, head of the gynaecology department of the hospital.   

“There is not enough room to set more beds inside the ward,” said Dr Md Mustafizur Rahman, director of the hospital. 

“It is painful to see that newborns along with their mothers are to be kept on floor outside the room, exposing them to an adverse environment. They should be kept at a clean place free from dust and germs for safety from various diseases including cold-related ones.

“I contacted with the higher authorities repeatedly for increasing the facilities but to no effect yet,” he added. 

“The medical college hospital was established in 1968 with 500 beds and it was upgraded to a 1000-bed one in 2013 without increasing required infrastructures. On an average, 1700 to 2000 patients stay at the hospital while 4500 to 5500 others get treatment from the outdoors daily,” he said.