(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-10 20:47

SANTIAGO - Chile's government on Tuesday publicly apologized after a woman was forced to give birth in the lavatory of a public hospital.

Bernadita Vega, 37, from Peru, arrived at a public hospital in the capital Santiago in labor late on Monday, and waited two hours for a doctor to see her.

Ultimately, her partner helped her deliver a baby boy in a hospital restroom.

"We are very sad about what has happened and worried about this incredible incident, and we are going to take the appropriate measures," Health Minister Maria Soledad Barria told Radio Cooperativa.

"We must check what happened and ask forgiveness from the family," she added.