Lucknow, Aug 13 (IANS): A four-and-a-half-month pregnant woman delivered her baby on the roadside outside the Raj Bhavan here on Sunday.

The foetus was brought dead to a hospital, doctors said.

A video of the incident surfaced on social media leading to a sharp reaction againt tate of health services in UP from Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, who also holds the health portfolio, confirmed the incident.

“I have taken cognisance of the incident and I am going to the spot. What I have been told by the Principal Secretary is that the family was going in a rickshaw and the incident took place near gate number 13 of the Raj Bhavan,” the minister said.

The baby was taken to Veerangana Jhalkari Bai Women and Child Hospital where it was declared dead by doctors. It was later buried at Baikunth Dhaam in Lucknow.

A doctor posted at the labour room of Veerangana Jhalkari Bai Women and Child Hospital said that following the incident, the woman, Rupa Soni, underwent a check-up at the hospital.

“Earlier in the day, she had gone to the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civil Hospital in Lucknow after experiencing pain and was administered an injection. She went home but did not get any relief,” the doctor said.

“While on her way here, she delivered (the baby) outside Raj Bhavan. The baby was brought dead,” the doctor said.

The Deputy Chief Minister said the woman decided to take a rickshaw and not an ambulance to the hospital, but when some passersby outside the Raj Bhavan called an ambulance, it arrived in 25 minutes.

“The ambulance responded in 25 minutes. The family had not sought an ambulance initially and took a rickshaw,” Pathak said.

Senior SP leader Shivpal Yadav, however, alleged that the incident occurred due to the |non-availability” of an ambulance.

“The state’s health system is on ventilator support despite lakhs of advertisements and claims. A pregnant woman going to the hospital by rickshaw was forced to deliver on the roadside near Raj Bhavan due to the non-availability of an ambulance. It is shameful for the entire system and it is the reality of the state's health system,” he said.