THOOTHUKUDI: A 30-year-old pregnant woman died along with her unborn baby at Pudukottai Primary Health Centre (PHC) during her delivery allegedly performed by nurses in the absence of a doctor.
PHC sources said that G Zahira (30), of Sirupadu village near Pudukkottai, was pregnant for the second time, and was admitted to the PHC for delivery around 6 am on Saturday. She was accompanied by her mother and relatives. Since there were no doctors available, two nurses performed the delivery, sources said, adding that the amniotic sac of the woman ruptured during the procedure.
Since the doctor did not arrive until 10 am, despite the amniotic sac rupture, the nurses referred the woman to Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital (TKMCH) by 10.15 am. However, Zahira died along with the baby on the way to the TKMCH, where the doctors recorded it as “brought dead”.
The woman’s family protested, refusing to receive the the body kept in the mortuary of TKMCH. They demanded action against the doctor and nurses.
“There was no doctor at the PHC until she was discharged. The nurses only treated her for the delivery in the absence of a doctor. They pressed her stomach until she felt breathlessness,” Zahira's mother Nabila said, adding that she informed her relatives of the breathlessness, and went to buy tea.
Before she returned, the nurses had referred Zahira to TKMCH, the relatives said.
Several attempts by TNIE to speak to Deputy Director (Health) proved futile.
Meanwhile, district administration in a press statement said, “The health condition of the woman was screened properly. Since the uterus opening delayed, the woman was shifted to TKMCH in an ambulance. The PHC has five doctors.”
Zahira, mother of a four-year-old daughter, was in good health and she walked to the delivery ward, Nabila said.
The relatives have demanded the doctors to perform a postmortem.