Pregnant women left with no place to give birth or get care
NEW DELHI : Last week, a 35-yearold woman from north-east Delhi’s Janta Mazdoor Colony started frantically calling the ASHA (accredited social health activist) when her labour pain started. When she couldn’t get through to any worker, she went to the maternity clinic where her antenatal check-up was done, but it had closed for the day by the time she got there. She was told to go to Kasturba hospital, about 6km away.
“She did not know how to get there and she was already in a lot of pain. So, she decided to call a midwife home and gave birth to a baby boy, who died soon after,” said Sulekha Singh, a health activist, who helped the woman take her baby to Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalay afterwards.
Pregnant women, especially those about to give birth, are the worst hit by the ongoing lockdown as well as overwhelmed health care systems. With health care workers in several hospitals testing positive for Covid-19, many women are no longer able to visit hospitals that gave them antenatal care. While some are forced to travel to far-off hospitals and brave the risk of a coronavirus infection, others have no option but to birth at home.
Three days ago, a woman from Jahangirpuri did not know where to go when she thought she was having labour pain because the hospital she used to go to – Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital – was closed after 75 health care workers contracted Covid-19.
The police helped her reach Deep Chand Bandhu hospital where she was told there was still time for her to go into labour and was asked to go home. “Doctors from Deep Chand Bandhu hospital asked her to go to Ambedkar hospital for the delivery, which is closer to her place. But, we had not taken her there earlier as the gynaecology department was closed a day ago because someone had tested positive for Covid-19. The situation changes daily and we have no idea where to take pregnant women,” Singh said.
One of the city’s biggest maternity centres -- Kasturba hospital near Jama Masjid – does not allow patients from containment zones with fever, cough or sore throat. “There are several containment areas around the hospital, but if anyone from these areas comes to us with even a mild fever or sore throat, we do not admit them because they are likely to have Covid-19. We refer them to Covid-19 hospitals,” a doctor from the hospital, on condition of anonymity, said.
This problem was highlighted when a 25-year-old woman from Nizamuddin Basti was turned away from Safdarjung. She was referred to Lok Nayak hospital, which denied her admission because she was not Covid-19 positive. She visited at least six hospitals and maternity clinics in 48 hours before finally giving birth outside AIIMS.
This case was referred to in a PIL by an organisation named SAMA in the Delhi High Court. Responding to the plea, the HC had ordered, “The Union of India and the Government of
National Capital Territory of Delhi shall work in tandem to make sure that no barriers are faced by pregnant ladies and their families residing in hot spots during the lockdown.”
The busiest gynaecology department in Delhi, Safdarjung hospital, which sees about 110 deliveries a day, is now creating a separate space for Covid-19 positive deliveries in the super specialty block where it houses other people with Covid-19.
“For now, our labour rooms have been divided into non-Covid and suspected Covid. But, yes, women have been facing problems since the lockdown. Many smaller nursing homes and maternity hospitals are not functioning now. Also, earlier, the bigger hospitals used to accommodate more than one patient on each bed. That is not possible now, because we have to follow social distancing norms,” a doctor from Safdarjung hospital’s gynaecology department said.
All this flies in the face of Delhi government orders directing all clinics, hospitals and nursing homes, including private ones, to remain open for treatment of nonCovid patients. They have been threatened with cancellation of licence if they do not comply.