Busy . . . And a maternal death

Yesterday was a bandh in Palamu . . . Nobody is quite sure about the reason for the bandh. It was our 20th day lost to a general strike in the present financial year (In India, the financial year starts from 1st April). Well, it was the cause of a maternal death too. . . 

I'm away for our Annual General Body meetings somewhere in the middle of tiger territory beside the Corbett National Park. However, Titus and Nandamani informed me about the maternal death . . .and 2 perinatal deaths . . . Maybe, all of them could have been preventable. . . 

SS, who was in her first pregnancy had seizures sometime around late afternoon last Tuesday, the 26th of June. . . Being quite far away from any sort of secondary healthcare, SS's family discovered that no vehicle was ready to take her to the nearest hospital which could offer her some hope . . . The reason - it was a bandh on the 27th June, and no driver wanted to take the risk of getting his vehicle damaged in the strike the next day.  

By the time the family got a driver agree to come - it was quite late in the night. . . And SS had been having seizures all through the evening . . . they counted 20 and then lost count. . . At around 2 am, they reached the nearby government hospital. . . They told that nothing much can be done and referred her to NJH. 

She arrived at NJH by around 5 am. Dr Johnson who was on call gave the option of a referral . . . The family had already spent quite a large amount to bring her upto NJH . . . There was nothing much they had to spare for a further journey to Ranchi. The blood parameters were within normal limits. The birth canal was totally unfavorable. 

A decision was taken for a Cesarian section. She could not be weaned off the ventilator after the surgery. Her heart failed by late afternoon. . . After many attempts of resuscitation, her body could not take it any longer. She was dead by 5:00 pm. . . The baby had already died intrauterine . . . 

SS's cesarian section was the first one of seven surgeries over the day. . . In my absence it has been busy . . . As I mentioned earlier, it would be good to have specialists . . .