No fees on birth of girl child

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In a bid to prevent female foeticide, a private hospital has been waiving the entire maternity charges whenever a girl child is born. Dr Ganesh Rak, who runs the general and maternity hospital at Hadapsar near Pune, celebrates the birth of a girl child by waiving the entire hospitalisation bill. His staff distributes sweets to the relatives of the mother.
“I decided to waive all hospital charges for women who give birth to a girl child, pained by the apathy shown to the mother and the child by disappointed relatives, who mount a mental pressure on the pregnant woman by constantly expecting a male child,” Dr Rak, who has waived all charges in 144 such cases since last year, said.
Dr Rak, who heads the trust that runs Medicare Hospital in suburban Pune, said, “It has been a distressing experience to see a pregnant woman constantly suffering from expectation of delivering a male child. When the announcement is of a boy, the maternity ward is crowded with spontaneous celebrations by relatives, who, in contrast, desert it when the nurse says it is a girl.” He further added, “I have seen the mothers who have just delivered a girl child while crying inconsolably. Relatives, who clear the hospital bills do so promptly if it is a boy, but are not enthusiastic about payment if it is a girl. Discharge of the patient at times, is delayed deliberately.” To counter this negative and retrograde thinking pattern and to shame the relatives who frown upon the birth of a girl child, Dr Rak said the hospital decided to take the move.