BERHAMPUR: Revenue divisional commissioner (southern division) Sangram Keshari Mohapatra on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the incident in which two postnatal mothers were reportedly forced to carry their intubated newborns to the super specialty block of MKCG Medical College and Hospital for echocardiogram (ECHO) tests.
On Monday, the women were found carrying their babies who had nasal tubes connected to a single oxygen cylinder.
Sources said Kausalya Sahu of Padadigi village under Patrapur block in Ganjam had delivered a baby boy eight days ago. The child was under treatment in the paediatric ward. Similarly, Padmalaya Behera of Badapada village under Gajapati’s Nuagada block had delivered a baby girl 14 days ago. The baby was being treated in the special newborn care unit.
On Monday, doctors advised ECHO tests for both the infants. A class IV employee of the hospital was assigned to accompany the mothers and help pull the oxygen cylinder. After dragging the cylinder for some distance, the hospital staffer reportedly abandoned the mothers. Subsequently, relatives of the two women had to haul the cylinder for the rest of the way.
After the incident sparked outrage, the RDC, who is also the chairman of the hospital’s managing committee, ordered a probe and also directed superintendent of MKCG MCH Dr Durga Madhab Satapathy to submit a comprehensive report in this regard.
Dr Satapathy claimed that both babies had the same oxygen saturation levels at the time of their transfer. He assured that strict instructions have been issued to the Paediatric department prohibiting the shared use of oxygen cylinders in the future.