MYSURU: Amid the challenging situation arising due to the sharp spike in Covid-19 cases in Mysuru, a government maternity hospital in VV Puram has helped 52 women who had contracted the virus deliver virus-free babies in the last one-and-half months.
Lakshmi Devamma Shankarashetty Maternity Hospital, which was converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital for treating pregnant women, has so far tended to 77 infected women in various stages of their pregnancy. It was converted as many hospitals were denying treatment to pregnant women who had tested positive for Covid-19.
Shortly after the hospital started a 30-bed ward on June 20, a pregnant woman who had tested positive was shifted here and delivered a baby. Since then, till July 31, doctors have helped deliver 52 babies of whom, 41 were delivered by C-section.
A team of gynaecologists, a surgeon, an anaesthetist and a paediatrician are rendering service along with trained nurses. It hasn’t been an easy task for the nurses and doctors considering the exposure to the virus and the limited resources and equipment the hospital has. “Two of my staffers had tested positive and were in quarantine.
They completed their home isolation period and joined work,” said Dr Malathy, paediatrician-cum-administrative medical officer of VV Puram maternity hospital. She said there were instances of nurses above the age group of 55 years working to fill the gap of nursing staff crunch. The hospital has not reported a single Covid death so far.