Tamil Nadu: Infant dies as husband carries out wife's delivery at home

A young couple’s desire to have the home birth of their first child went horribly wrong. The baby was found dead inside the uterus of the woman during the delivery done by the husband and another woman after watching YouTube videos on “home birth.”

The wife, Gomathi, is currently under treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore, 140 km from here. The incident took place on Saturday when Gomathi’s husband, Loganathan, attempted to conduct the delivery with the help of Geetha, a relative, at their home in Panapakkam in Ranipet district.

As the baby was found dead inside the womb of Gomathi, who began bleeding profusely, Loganathan rushed her to a government hospital in Panapakkam after which she was transferred to the medical college hospital in Vellore. A preliminary inquiry has found that the couple has been dodging the medical teams that visited their home saying they are consulting a doctor with the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore where they were planning to have the delivery.

Police said that the due date was on December 13 but Loganathan kept postponing taking his wife to the doctor. “The woman developed labour pain on Saturday,” a police official said, adding that an FIR has been registered against the husband and the relative.

The incident has come as a shock to people in Tamil Nadu as a well-educated couple decided to go for risky home delivery without the assistance of experienced people. The state boasts of 100 per cent institutional delivery.

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