MALKANGIRI: A day after a tribal woman from Birenpally village in Mathili block claimed her newborn went missing after delivery, the clinical tests conducted on her at the district headquarters hospital here on Tuesday confirmed she was not pregnant.
The tests were conducted by gynaecologist Dr Surama Behera on Kaushalya Bhumia in the presence of Mathili police. The incident has raised two questions - one, about the woman’s claims, and the other, how she was issued a Mother and Child Protection (MCP) card despite not being pregnant.
“After the tests, it is now amply clear that the woman was not pregnant and her claims of pregnancy and the newborn missing at Mathili sub-divisional hospital on Monday were not genuine”, said chief district medical officer Praful Nanda.
Mathili sub-divisional hospital medical officer Amiya Kumar Swain told TNIE that Kaushalya had evaded ultrasound test on her two previous visits to the hospital. Her claims are not genuine as she had undergone family planning surgery in July, 2018. Swain, however, felt that Kaushalya might be making the false claims fearing her husband might leave her if she was not pregnant.
However, Malkangiri DHH superintendent Siba Maharana told this paper that Kaushalya may have been suffering from pseudocyesis, a rare somatic condition in which the patient has all signs and symptoms of pregnancy even though she is not pregnant. The condition may be caused in a woman who has intense desire to be pregnant. Women in such condition are convinced they are pregnant even in the absence of foetus, he added.
More important, however, was how Kaushalya was issued an MCP card jointly by ICDS and Health department. That is not all, she was also administrated vaccines at different stages by ANM and ASHA posted at Kiang sub-centre.
As per Kaushalya’s MCP card, her pregnancy was detected and name registered by ANM Kamala Sahu and ASHA of Kiang sub-centre in Mathili on September 1, 2022. The card also mentioned that she had her last menstruation on September 6, 2022 and the expected delivery was March 3, 2023. Nanda said a probe will be conducted to ascertain the lapses and the guilty will be punished.