Tripura: Covid-19 positive woman delivers baby in an ambulance

The mother and the baby have been admitted to the state-run Govind Ballabh Pant (GBP) Hospital, a dedicated Covid-19 facility, in Agartala.

A pregnant coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patient (23) delivered a male baby in an ambulance while on her way to a hospital in Agartala from Tripura’s Unakoti district in the dead of night on Wednesday.

The ambulance, which was ferrying her to GBP Hospital, was also entrusted with the responsibility to drop a Covid-19 patient at Kumarghat Hospital in Unakoti district. (Bloomberg (Representative Image))

The mother and the baby have been admitted to the state-run Govind Ballabh Pant (GBP) Hospital, a dedicated Covid-19 facility, in Agartala.

The mother, who belongs to Unakoti district, had tested Covid-19 positive on Tuesday evening and was referred to GBP Hospital, located about 130 kilometres (km) from her native place after the district hospital authorities had refused to admit her because of the complications of her health condition.

The ambulance, which was ferrying her to GBP Hospital, was also entrusted with the responsibility to drop a Covid-19 patient at Kumarghat Hospital in Unakoti district.

However, she went into labour, when the ambulance was crossing Atharamura range in Khowai district, 50 km away from Agartala, and she gave birth to a male baby in the vehicle.

The ambulance reached the hospital in the intervening night between Tuesday and Wednesday before 2 pm.

“The mother and the child are doing fine. The baby has been kept with the mother in the Covid-19 isolation ward since he requires to be breastfed,” said Dr. Bidhan Goswami, resident medical officer (RMO), GBP Hospital.

Tripura Directorate of Health Services has served a show-cause notice to the Unakoti district hospital seeking a reply within 24 hours, ascribing reasons for refusing admission and referring the patient to GBP Hospital.

“There is a complaint against the on-duty doctor of the hospital, who refused to admit her after she had tested Covid-19 positive. Action will be taken against him, if he is found guilty,” said Dr. Subhasish Debbarma, director of health services, Tripura.

Dr. Samarendra Debbarma, medical superintendent, Unakoti district hospital, cited infrastructure inadequacy that prompted the referral to GBP Hospital.

“The district hospital has only one labour room and an operation theatre (OT) and a Covid care ward. We refer serious pregnancy and Covid-19 cases to GBP Hospital, as per the instructions. She, too, was referred following discussion with senior health authorities,” Dr. Debbarma said.

Earlier on July 22, another woman (23) had delivered a baby daughter at GBP Hospital three days after she had tested Covid-19 positive.

Tripura has recorded 4,287 Covid-19 cases to date, including 2,621 patients have recovered from their viral infection and 21 have died.

A woman Covid-19 patient had died by suicide, according to the state health department.

The Biplab Kumar Deb-led government has extended the lockdown restrictions in the state from 5 am on Thursday (July 30) until August 4 owing to a spike in Covid-19 cases.

The lockdown that was re-imposed on Monday (July 27) from 5 am was slated to be lifted on Thursday.