Rajbiraj, Sept. 10 -- year-old woman gave birth on a pavement outside Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital in Rajbiraj early Wednesday after she and her husband said they could not pay for a blood test.

The incident exposes the gap between the country's free maternity care policy and the experience of impoverished families.

Babita Kumari Paswan of Parsahi in Rajbiraj Municipality-14, Saptari, arrived at the hospital at around 1 am in labour. She was accompanied by her husband, Hareram Paswan, and a neighbour. After an examination at the labour ward, staff gave Hareram a slip to pay for blood tests, he said.

The couple had only Rs2,000. When Hareram asked how much the tests would cost, he was told they could require up to Rs3,200.

"We had o...