Apathy' kills woman at Thrissur medical college hospital

THRISSUR: Grave lapses allegedly on the part of doctors and nurses at Thrissur MCH have led to the death of a mother who delivered a baby at Thrissur General Hospital on last Sunday. After the normal delivery of a baby girl, Pankajam, 30, the alleged victim of apathy on the part of MCH doctors and nurses, came to the New Born ICU of MCH at Mulamkkunath-ukkavu at Monday at 10 a.m. with a reference note from General Hospital as the baby showed respiratory issues. Pankajam, a resident of Kizhakkumchery in Palakkad, is the wife of  Kannappana, a rubber tapping labourer.

“She, who delivered a baby on last Sunday, was made to sit outside the ICU of MCH for feeding her baby on regular intervals by the nurse. She waited outside the ICU starting from Monday morning for 24 hours without taking proper medical attention and rest. Tuesday, she became unwell with fever,” Valsala, sister of Pankajam,  told DC. As her condition worsened, the bystanders requested admission for her at MCH on Tuesday, but was told that only the mothers who delivered a baby at the MCH could be given admission there.

She later approached the out-patient department at MCH and was admitted on Wednesday to the Gynecology Ward of MCH and was lying on the floor of the ward, her relatives said. “Besides that, she had to go all the way from the Gynecology ward on the ground floor to the third floor by climbing the stairs to feed her baby who was getting treatment on New Born ICU on third floor as instructed by the nurses at the ICU,” Valsala said. The lift at the building was not working, it is learnt. Her condition worsened on 2 a.m. on Saturday and was shifted to ventilator at Gynec ward and she breathed her last at 2 p.m.

The Gynecology doctors told the mediapersons that the issue of the Pankajam going all the way to the third floor at regular intervals to feed her baby was not brought to their notice. The relatives of the deceased has filed a complaint with MCH officials on Saturday citing that she was not properly given medical attention since Monday at MCH, after she had delivered a baby a day before at General Hospital on Sunday. Her relatives say that after her death the MCH authorities said that she was suffering from dengue and they were not informed about it.