A newborn baby died in Panur, Kannur district on Thursday after the mother went into labour at home as she could not reach hospital. Though the family had requested the doctor and nurses of nearby primary health centre (PHC) to come home and check on the mother and baby, they allegedly refused to come saying they couldn’t do home visits due to the pandemic. This caused delay in getting treatment, the family says.
The infant was the fourth child of Haneef and Sameera. The latter is still in the intensive care unit (ICU). She had started experiencing pain on Thursday morning, a few weeks before her due date.
"Sameera's due date was on October end. She was consulting at Mission Hospital in Thalassery. On Thursday around 7.30 am, she started experiencing pain, and went into labour within 15 minutes, so we were not able to go to hospital," Yakub, Haneef's brother, told TNM.
Meanwhile Haneef sought help at the fire force unit near to their house. Along with the officials there, he rushed to a nearby primary health centre (PHC). "We wanted help to cut the umbilical cord, so that we could immediately take the child and mother to hospital. But the doctor and nurses at the PHC refused to come with us. They said due to COVID-19, they cannot visit houses. By then almost 30 minutes were over," Yakub said.
Later, Haneef went to a private hospital. By the time the nurses from the hospital reached his house and cut the umbilical cord, the baby's skin colour had changed to blue.
"We rushed to hospital; the baby had a pulse when we left. But by the time we reached hospital he was no more. Sameera was admitted and still under treatment," Yakub said.
The family alleged that Sameera had no signs of something being wrong till the labour pain started on Thursday. "This was not her first delivery. If there were any signs, she would have known. But this was sudden and unexpected. She had no other complications," the relative said.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja has ordered a probe into the case.
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