SRINAGAR, NOV 02: Lal Ded (LD) is the only maternity hospital that caters to the entire Kashmir including the referrals too. The 700 bedded hospital witnesses a huge influx of patients each day which is nearly three times more than the actual space that the hospital offers.
Jasmeena and her family have traveled all the way from north Kashmir. But the journey of giving birth to her first kid was not less than a nightmare for her.
“The hospital is facing huge space crisis. I was lucky to get a bed. A lady who had just left the labour room after delivering a baby had no place to lie down. No patient was ready to share their bed. Seeing her helplessness I offered her space beside me,” Jasmeena says.
Another patient has the same woes to share. “Having limited facilities in my hometown hospital, I was referred to LD for my delivery. But the choking space here added to my inconvenience. Sharing bed when one is in the pool of pain is highly uncomfortable and irritating,” says another patient from south Kashmir.
Many ladies who have delivered their first kid at LD hospital prefer to get admitted to a private hospital for their second delivery to avoid the difficulties they faced at LD hospital.
“My first and last experience at LD was terrible due to many problems I faced there. From sharing bed to privacy concerns, you have to compromise everything which makes the journey to motherhood a terrible one,” says another woman.
Talking to the ‘Kashmir Images’, Medical superintend, LD Hospital, Dr Nazir Ahmad Malik agrees that the patients face space constraints,
“It is a very busy and overburdened hospital. The influx of patients is huge. We receive patients not only from Kashmir but from Doda, Kargil, Banihal and other places too. Space here is limited which obliviously would not cater to the huge rush that hospital witnesses daily,” he says, adding that construction of maternity hospitals in various referrals of the Valley will definitely ease the pressure of patients that LD is facing.
