Mother, newborn die during delivery in Dharmapuri; family protests

COIMBATORE: Following the death of a mother and her newborn child due to alleged medical negligence at a private hospital in Dharmapuri, their family members engaged in a protest on Wednesday.

Police said Santhiya (24), wife of a farmer Gokulakrishnan (27), from Kadathur in Dharmapuri, was admitted to a private hospital in Kumarasamipettai after she developed labour pain on Tuesday night.

“In the absence of doctors, the nurses who performed a caesarean delivery on Santhiya had informed that she delivered a baby boy who was born dead. They also asked the family to take Santhiya to Dharmapuri Government Hospital for treatment as her condition is critical due to heavy blood loss. The doctors in GH examined and found her to be dead already,” police said.

Following their protest at the private hospital, the district administration authorities and police officials held talks with the family members and persuaded them to withdraw. An inquiry is underway by Dharmapuri Town Police.

Doctors treat three-year-old under flashlight amid power cut at Kotagiri GH

In another incident, doctors used a flashlight from a mobile phone to treat a three-year-old girl at Kotagiri Government Hospital on Tuesday night.

The girl suffered from breathing difficulties and was brought to the hospital by her parents around 8 pm from Idukorai. An official said that power had gone off thrice during examining and treating the girl. Hence, the doctors resorted to using flash light from their mobile phone to provide her first aid.

The incident went viral on social media. The hospital authorities claimed that the power supply was suspended frequently due to ongoing work to axe down weak trees that may pose a danger to the public and to set right faulty electric connections.

“It may take some time to reach the generator room, located 20 metres away from the emergency ward, to turn on power. So, we continued our treatment with torch light,” said the official.