A pregnant woman who had delivered a stillborn baby at her home on Saturday in a remote village of Qazigund area in south Kashmir, died last evening as she could not reach the hospital in time amid the covid-19 lockdown.
The deceased, Masrat Jan, 27, wife of Riyaz Ahmad Mugloo of Dualatabad-Manzmoo village died minutes after reaching the Maternity and Childcare Hospital (MCCH) Anantnag, sources said.
She had delivered a stillborn baby on Saturday at around 11am at her home. As her condition deteriorated, her family decided to take her to the hospital. The village of the family falls in the revenue district Anantnag but comes under the medical jurisdiction of Kulgam, and there is no road connectivity for 3 kilometers, sources said.
“The family had to ferry her on a charpoy and walk around 3 kilometers to reach down Manzmoo as their repeated calls to helpline numbers asking for an ambulance went unanswered,” sources said.
Soon, they boarded a vehicle arranged by villagers and reached Primary Health Centre (PHC) Qazigund at around 5:00pm. The doctors after giving her initial treatment referred her to MCCH, Anantnag.
Medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Mir Ji Andrabi said, “At around 7:15 pm as the woman was taken to operation theatre, she died.” The MS attributed her death to delay in the treatment. “She reached the hospital late after suffering from IUD,” he said.
The MS said the body was taken to the mortuary and next day handed over to the family after taking her samples for covid-19 test as per the protocol. A gynaecologist said the deceased had suffered excessive bleeding and pulmonary edema. “She was almost brought dead and though we tried to resuscitate her but couldn’t,” she said.
The family, however, blamed the doctors in GMC Anantnag for the death of the mother and the baby. “On Thursday last, my wife developed severe chest pain and we took her to GMC Anantnag where she remained in the emergency for the night and was discharged the following day,” her husband, Mugloo told Greater Kashmir over the phone.
He alleged that the doctors without seeking advice from a gynaecologist at MCCH or conducting a USG told them that her delivery date was “still far”. “We took her to home, however, the very next morning she developed labour pain and delivered a stillborn at home,” Mugloo said.
Principal, GMC Anantnag, Dr Showkat Jeelani, admitted that she was bought to the hospital. However, he blamed the health authorities for the “mismanagement”. “She was bought to our hospital for non-specific reasons and was discharged as she was absolutely fine,” Dr Jeelani said. “If the pregnant woman had delivery at home, who is to be blamed? The health authorities obviously,” he said.
The family attributed her death to the health authorities also who they said had failed to provide care to the pregnant women in the villages. “Under the JSSY scheme, the ASHA workers in the medical blocks are supposed to reach the pregnant woman at their doorsteps,” said Parvez Ahmad, a kin of the deceased. He said, even the health workers have to ferry the pregnant in an ambulance to the hospital and later bring them home. “But alas nothing was done in this case,” he rued.
Block Medical Officer (BMO) Qazigund, however, refuted the allegations of the family and Principal GMC. “She had gone to GMC Anantnag for treatment a few days back. The doctors there discharged them and the next day she delivered a stillborn at home,” the BMO said.
He said the ASHA workers had even told the family to inform them in case of emergency, but they (family) did not.
The villagers ascribed the frequent delays in the treatment of emergency cases and subsequent fatalities to the lack of road connectivity. “There is no road from Dulatabad to Manzmoo , and yesterday we had no choice but to take that pregnant woman on charpoy for around three kilometers. There we boarded a vehicle arranged by the villagers themselves and took her to hospital,” said Bashir Ahmad Laiwal, a local.
He said their repeated pleas to the authorities for providing the road facility have fallen on deaf ears. “Had she reached the hospital in time, her life might have been saved,” Laiwal said.
