GUWAHATI: A frequently-travelling Mizoram MLA became a godsent for a pregnant woman and saved her life.
C Lalhmangaihsangi from Ngur village in Mizoram’s remote Champhai district, which shares a border with Myanmar, was going through labour pain and bleeding on Monday but the only doctor at the district hospital was on leave as he was sick.
When Dr ZR Thiamsanga, the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) MLA representing the Champhai North constituency who served for 30 years as a gynaecologist, learnt about the woman’s case, he rushed to the hospital and helped her deliver through the caesarian section.
Dr Thiamsanga told this newspaper that the woman’s condition was critical and it called for an immediate operation. He said there was no complication in the surgery and the woman and her kid were now fine.
“The gynaecologist at the Champhai hospital was on leave due to ill health. The lady was in labour pain and bleeding. She needed an immediate operation. So, I volunteered,” he said.
Lalhmangaihsangi’s family was planning to take her to state capital Aizawl, which is nearly 200 km away and around 10 hours drive from Champhai. Dr Thiamsanga said if the family had done that, the woman and the unborn baby would not have, possibly, survived.
“She could not deliver due to complications. If the family had taken her to Aizawl, I feel she as well as the baby would have died or she would have delivered on the way. It’s a long and arduous journey as the condition of the road is not good,” he said.
“It was God’s plan. She was very lucky. I too was lucky as I was in Champhai,” Dr Thiamsanga, who is the vice-chairman of Health and Family Welfare Board, said.
The landlocked Mizoram has very few gynaecologist. The shortage is such that it cannot engage even one gynaecologist in every district. There are also very few anaesthetists. The state has 11 districts but only Aizawl and Lunglei have private hospitals. The only private hospital in Lunglei is run by the church.
Dr Thiamsanga was serving at the Aizawl Civil Hospital, which is the state’s largest healthcare facility when he had received an invitation from the MNF to contest the 2018 Mizoram polls. He opted voluntary retirement and went on to become a lawmaker.
He would often be seen moving around with his stethoscope that dangles from around his neck. In June, he took pains by walking for seven km to treat an ailing cop near the international border with Myanmar. Sometimes, he would be accompanied by his daughter, MS Dawngzuali, who too is a doctor.
“I am an MLA and it is my duty to look after the welfare of my people. And since I am also a doctor, I hardly care for the territorial jurisdiction of my constituency when it is about treating people who are in need of immediate medical attention,” Dr Thiamsanga said.