Bhubaneswar, Aug. 28: Tension gripped the obstetrics and gynaecology department of Capital Hospital early this morning following the death of a woman.

Sashi Pala, 27, a native of Angasinghi village in Nayagarh, died an hour after she was brought to the hospital from the District Headquarters Hospital, Nayagarh. She was bleeding after delivering a baby boy. She died around 5.45am.

The baby is doing fine.

Relatives of the deceased caused a ruckus at the gynaecology ward when the news of her death broke. They calmed down only after officers of Capital police station assured them of a probe into the matter.

Sudarshan Das, chief medical officer of the hospital, said the staff was not at faultand they had tried their best to save the woman. He said the delay in bringing her to the hospital proved fatal.

This is the second such incident in 15 days at the hospital, which has been in hit by controversies triggered by allegations of neglect.

Sources said Sashi, who worked as a peon at a government-run tribal school in the Khandapara area of Nayagarh, was admitted to the Nayagarh hospital yesterday where she gave birth to a boy around 11.15pm. Her husband Prafful said the doctors there referred her to Capital Hospital when she continued bleeding.

“We reached here around 2am. The doctors gave here an injection and asked us to arrange for blood. But later they did not attend to her despite our requests and she died early this morning. She was not even given blood though we had arranged for it,” he said.

The family members have demanded action against the hospital staff alleging negligence. They protested with Sashi’s body in front of the gynaecology ward.

“We had come here hoping that the doctors would save her. But the staff here did not attend to her and she died,” said Rajani Pala, a relative of the deceased.

However, the chief medical officer said the doctors hardly had an hour to treat her and the patient had already bled a lot. “The patient was admitted to the hospital around 4.30am and our doctors tried their best. Excessive bleeding caused her death around 5.45am. We did not even get time to give her blood,” said Dash, adding that Sashi’s first child was a caesarian and the family should have been careful this time.