Pregnant woman, newborn dies in a botched delivery at a PHC in Kothagudem, TGHRC seeks report

A charred surgical scissors was allegedly found in the cremated remains of a tribal woman who died after a delivery at Gundala PHC. The incident has triggered outrage, prompting the Telangana Human Rights Commission to order a probe into the matter

Kothagudem: The finding of a charred surgical scissors in the cremated remains of a pregnant woman, who died following an alleged botched delivery at Gundala PHC in the district, has caused a stir and raised serious questions over the functioning of government hospitals.

The scissors were found when family members, who went to the funeral grounds on June 17 to collect the remains of the body cremated on June 13 for conducting traditional rituals, discovered it. The incident came to light on Friday and shocked many in the district.

---

According to family members, a tribal woman, Kunja Vanaja (20) of Shambhunigudem in Gundala mandal, was admitted to the local Primary Health Centre (PHC) on June 13 after experiencing labour pains. As the medical officer was absent at the time, a staff nurse was said to have conducted a normal delivery.

After the delivery, the infant lapsed into an unconscious state. The staff then told the family to take the mother and baby to Yellandu Community Health Centre, where doctors examined the newborn and declared the child dead.

Meanwhile, the mother suffered severe postpartum haemorrhaging and was shifted from Yellandu to the Government General Hospital in Khammam, where she died while undergoing treatment.

The woman’s husband, Sanjeeva Rao, told the media that if the PHC staff had informed them about the absence of the doctor and that a normal delivery was not possible as the child weighed 3.2 kg, they would have taken his wife to a private hospital and opted for a caesarean delivery.

The staff also lied about the death of the child. Though the child did not cry after delivery, the staff stated that the child might have swallowed amniotic fluid and would recover after one hour, while they mentioned in the OP slip that the child was dead.

The child’s death came to light when the family reached Yellandu CHC, where the doctors were surprised to find an OP slip issued for a dead child, Sanjeeva Rao complained while demanding action against the erring staff.

The TGHRC, which came to know about the incident, has taken suo motu cognisance of it. Commissioner Member Sivadi Praveena directed the DM&HO to probe the matter and submit an action taken report by July 13.

In a statement, DM&HO Dr Tukaram Rathod said he visited the village on Friday, enquired into the incident and that a report would soon be submitted to the District Collector.