Probe ordered into post-delivery death of woman in doctor’s absence at Thirukkurunkudi
TNN | Jun 9, 2019, 06.01 AM IST
MADURAI: The deputy director of health services (DDHS), Tirunelveli, has ordered an inquiry into the death of a 23-year-old woman after giving birth to a stillborn baby on Thursday night at a primary health centre (PHC) at Thirukkurunkudi, where the delivery was performed by the staff in the absence of a doctor.
According to officials in the district health department, there was no doctor for the afternoon duty at the PHC following which the auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) performed the delivery. Tirunelveli DDHS Dr S Senthil Kumar told TOI that he had asked for a detailed report regarding the entire incident by Monday. “The delivery was performed when there was no doctor at the PHC. But the ANM there has performed around 1,200 deliveries so far,” he added. The death of the woman was attributed to bleeding during delivery while the baby was stillborn as the umbilical cord got wrapped around the neck.
When asked why there was no doctor at the time, Dr Senthil Kumar said that the PHC had a sanctioned strength of five doctors out of which two had left for higher studies. “The remaining three – which included the block medical officer (BMO) – split the morning, noon and night duty between them. I had called the BMO for a meeting that day and unfortunately that was when the incident happened,” he said. The BMO there used to chip in for outpatient checkup whenever required and was supposed to be in charge of the afternoon duty.
On Thursday, Akhila gave birth to a stillborn baby around 6.45pm and died around 7.45pm. The doctor on the night shift arrived around 8.10pm. Akhila was admitted to the PHC on June 4 after she complained of hip pain. She was discharged after a day’s observation as there was no sign of “delivery contraction” then. On Thursday, she was taken to a private hospital, where she was told that there were some complications. Health department officials said that it was then that her family decided to shift her to the PHC.
TNN | Jun 9, 2019, 06.01 AM IST
MADURAI: The deputy director of health services (DDHS), Tirunelveli, has ordered an inquiry into the death of a 23-year-old woman after giving birth to a stillborn baby on Thursday night at a primary health centre (PHC) at Thirukkurunkudi, where the delivery was performed by the staff in the absence of a doctor.
According to officials in the district health department, there was no doctor for the afternoon duty at the PHC following which the auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) performed the delivery. Tirunelveli DDHS Dr S Senthil Kumar told TOI that he had asked for a detailed report regarding the entire incident by Monday. “The delivery was performed when there was no doctor at the PHC. But the ANM there has performed around 1,200 deliveries so far,” he added. The death of the woman was attributed to bleeding during delivery while the baby was stillborn as the umbilical cord got wrapped around the neck.
When asked why there was no doctor at the time, Dr Senthil Kumar said that the PHC had a sanctioned strength of five doctors out of which two had left for higher studies. “The remaining three – which included the block medical officer (BMO) – split the morning, noon and night duty between them. I had called the BMO for a meeting that day and unfortunately that was when the incident happened,” he said. The BMO there used to chip in for outpatient checkup whenever required and was supposed to be in charge of the afternoon duty.
On Thursday, Akhila gave birth to a stillborn baby around 6.45pm and died around 7.45pm. The doctor on the night shift arrived around 8.10pm. Akhila was admitted to the PHC on June 4 after she complained of hip pain. She was discharged after a day’s observation as there was no sign of “delivery contraction” then. On Thursday, she was taken to a private hospital, where she was told that there were some complications. Health department officials said that it was then that her family decided to shift her to the PHC.
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