KRISHNAGIRI: A 23-year-old woman near the Urigam tribal village delivered twin IUFD babies on Tuesday at the Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital (GKMCH). Her husband, however, alleged that medical negligence led to the death.
C Basappa (28), a farmer from Muthikarai village in Urigam panchayat, told TNIE that his wife Susheela (23) was pregnant and regularly took treatment at the Urigam primary health centre.
They already have one female child aged five. "Last month, owing to health complications, she took treatment at the GKMCH for 10 days, and a doctor at the GKMCH asked Susheela to come after 10 days with the scan report. On Monday, around 9.30 am, the couple went to Urigam PHC with the scan report, where Dr Parthiban allegedly informed them that Susheela needs to undergo a C-section, but since the doctor was unavailable on Monday, she was asked to come on Tuesday," he said.
"On Tuesday, around 10 am, the couple went to Urigam PHC, and they were referred to GKMCH. Before getting into the ambulance, both babies had a fetal heart rate, but when they reached GKMCH, health staff declared the babies dead. On Tuesday evening, after surgery, the twin IUFD babies were delivered, and Susheela is currently under treatment," said Basappa. Basappa buried the babies at Krishnagiri on Tuesday night. Both were females.
When TNIE contacted GKMCH superintendent Dr Chandrasekar, he said, "There is no negligence from the GKMCH. When they arrived here, the babies did not have a fetal heart rate. They could have died on the way. Without conducting a postmortem, we cannot say when the babies died."
Similarly, when TNIE contacted Dr Parthiban of Urigam PHC, he denied all allegations and said," On Monday, I went through Susheela's scan report and directed them to meet an obstetrician and gynaecologist. Though the scan report was normal, the mother was at high risk. I asked Susheela to visit the Urigam PHC again on Tuesday, but in the referral letter on Monday itself, I explained about the health issue to Susheela. We have been tracking her, even when she visited her relatives' place in another hill village, Doddamanju."
District Health Officer Dr G Ramesh Kumar said that he was unaware of the incident and would look into it.