Pregnant woman dies due to delay in arrival of ambulance in Maharashtra

A 25-year-old pregnant woman has died due to alleged delay in the arrival of ambulance after she started having labour pains in Maharashtra's Palghar district, officials said on Sunday.

The incident took place a few days back, they said, adding that the woman was a "high risk" category patient as she was underweight and had low blood pressure.

When contacted, District Medical Officer Dr Dayanand Suryawanshi told PTI that there was a delay in the ambulance service as one vehicle of a local public health centre (PHC) was on Covid-19 duty, while another one had broken down.

On November 17, Manisha Dhore, who was seven months pregnant, started having labour pains at her home in Amle village of Khodala area in Mokhada taluka following which her family members called for an ambulance.

However, as there was adelay in the arrival of the ambulance, some locals carried her in a 'dholi' (makeshift cloth stretcher) to the nearest main road.

The ambulance arrived at the main road after over two hours and the woman was rushed to the PHC in Khodala. But, her condition became critical and she was shifted to the civil hospital in neighbouring Nashik district, the official said.

The woman, who was a member of the Suryamahal gram panchayat, also lost a lot of blood in the intervening period, he said.

Doctors at the Nashik Civil Hospital performed a Cesarean surgery on the night of November 18, but the baby could not be saved. The woman, who was administered blood, also died the next morning, Dr Suryawanshi said.

Admitting there a was delay in the ambulance service, he said the ambulance of the Khodala PHC was on Covid-19 duty in neighbouring Vikramgad taluka, while the emergency vehicle assigned for the Mokhada PHC had broken down.

The official said he conducted a probe into the matter and informed that the victim had a bad obstetric history.

She earlier had one abortion and another case of stillborn child, and doctors had advised her against conceiving as it could pose a risk to her life, he said.

Dr Suryawanshi said in the last seven months, he had himself conducted a checkup of the woman five times and she was found to be in the "high risk category" as she was underweight and had low blood pressure.

As a result, she relocated to Nashik for better health care and had come to Amle village here for the Diwali festival and developed complications, he said.

The official also said he was working on issues pertaining to ambulances and would submit a detailed report on the entire incident to the government.