This Ahmedabad Doctor Does Not Charge Parents If a Girl Child Is Born, Throws a Party Instead!

The sad truth is that many in India pray for the birth of a boy even today. Dr. Mahadev Lohana, the Managing Director of Sindhu Hospital in Ahmedabad, noticed how the birth of a male child used to be celebrated widely and exuberantly, while that of a girl child would be a quiet affair with the parents and relatives wishing for a boy.

Dr. Lohana decided to take some steps to change the scenario. He introduced a scheme under which the delivery is free of charges in case a girl is born.

In a post published on the Facebook page Humans of Amdavad, he said that the hospital charges Rs. 1,100 as registration fees and the amount is refunded if a girl child is born. The cost for a normal delivery is Rs. 7,000 and it is Rs. 20,000 for a C-section. The hospital also decorates the newborn baby girl’s room and organises a celebration.

The scheme was started five months ago and it has been widely popular. As people came to know about the offer, the hospital saw an increase in the number of registrations. So far, 60 female children have been born at the hospital.

“Girls are far better and important than boys. I urge the society to help me in changing the mindsets of people,” says Dr. Lohana.

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Read the full post here:

“I am a doctor by profession and have been associated with many big hospitals of our city. Apart from being a doctor I have also been part of the management in all those hospitals where I have played a key role in taking big and bold decisions. Six years ago I joined Sindhu Hospital where I hold the position of a managing director. All these years there was this one thing which had always been on my mind and that was about skewed child sex ratio in our state, it is 890 girls per 1000 boys and I wanted to do something to promote the birth of a girl child. I also observed that majority of women who got admitted here hoped and prayed for a boy child and not for a girl child. Gala celebrations would happen and sweets would be distributed if a boy was born and the arrival of a girl was regretted. Such kind of a scenario made me come up with an initiative in the field of “Save the Girl Child”. We decided to charge not a single penny from the parents if a girl child is born. We just charge 1100 rupees as registration fees and if a girl child is born than we refund that amount. Usually, a delivery costs 7000 rupees for a normal birth and 20000 rupees for C-Section, but our hospital has rolled out a special offer wherein parents won’t have to pay the hospital bills if they are blessed with a girl child. If a girl child is born at our hospital then we decorate that newly born child’s room and organize a gala celebration in our hospital auditorium where I personally invite relatives of the proud parents for the celebration and we order a 5 kg cake and have a get together over the snacks and celebrate the occasion. It has been 5 months to this scheme and initially the response was cold so in the first month we just got 10-15 registrations but gradually people came to know about our special offer and from the second month we started getting 200-250 registrations and at present, we receive 10-15 registrations daily. And I am proud to say that so far 60 daughters have been born in our hospital since the roll out of our scheme. Our main motive to start this initiative was to change the mindset of people. Even though our city is developed but still our orthodox mentality hasn’t changed and our hospital is taking all positive measures to change that mentality.

Any Message?

To all those people who think that girls are not as important as boys. I would only say one thing that girls are far better and important than boys. I urge the society to help me in changing the mindsets of people.”

To connect with Dr Mahadev Lohana, visit his Facebook profile here.

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