The nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of novel coronavirus has put pregnant women in a difficult situation. But Tamil Nadu government is confident of ensuring that the needs of pregnant women are taken care of in the state.
Speaking to TNM, an official from Tamil Nadu National Health Mission (TN NHM) shares, “We have identified a total of 1.59 lakh mothers waiting to deliver in both rural and corporation areas between March 24 and May 31. Of these, about 50,000 and odd mothers have delivered already.”
This list has been shared with the districts following which district officials have sketched out a plan. “Based on the list that would be made available at Public Health Centres (PHC) daily, mothers will be mobilised following social distancing norms. We have designated District Maternal and Child Health Officers for exclusively following up with these expecting mothers,” she adds.
Those with high-risk factors like diabetes or hypertension have been asked to admit themselves to the hospital 10 days prior to their date of delivery. “They will be admitted at Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) centers, and not at PHCs. If the mother is from a containment zone, Reverse Transcription–Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) will be done and delivery will be conducted in a separate room with all PPE measures,” the official explains.
Daily video conferencing is done with district officials and a Mentor Official, who will correspond with the TN NHM team, has been appointed in each district. “We have a 7 to 8 member team at TN NHM, all of whom are obstetricians, and will monitor five districts each, daily.”
As for the availability of ambulances, the official adds, “We have exclusive Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) vehicles allotted for this. Based on delivery load the vehicle will be available to pick up the mother from the periphery to the CEmONC or PHC.”
Further, there have also been notable incidents in the state of Good Samaritans helping expectant mothers.
A few days ago, Tamil author M Chandrakumar aka ‘Auto’ Chandran – best known for his novel Lock-up that inspired Vetrimaaran’s award-winning film Visaaranai – helped a migrant worker from Odisha stranded in Coimbatore deliver her baby.
The woman, who had been stranded along with her family in Coimbatore, went into labour before an ambulance could come. Chandrakumar, who was driving his auto in the area, was called to the spot by his friend to take the woman to the hospital. However, that was not possible given how far along the woman was into labour. Ultimately, Chandrankumar stayed there, and helped the woman. By the time the baby was born, an ambulance arrived, and took the mother and child to a Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
Meanwhile, in Trichy, when constable S Syed Abuthahir saw a pregnant woman struggling to walk along with her husband, he enquired and learned that she was in dire need of blood to undergo a caesarean section. When his duty ended that afternoon, he headed to the hospital to donate his blood. His gesture was appreciated by many.