A Ghansoli woman, who was found to be COVID-19 positive on Sunday, safely delivered a girl at the NMMC Hospital in Vashi, around 2 p.m. on Monday.
A doctor attached to the NMMC Hospital claimed the 34-year-old was refused treatment at St. George, Kasturba and JJ Hospitals, and was admitted to the Vashi hospital on Sunday afternoon. “On Monday, which was her due date, we found that her amniotic fluid was low, and hence we decided to have an elective lower segment C-section,” said gynaecologist Dr. Rajesh Mhatre, who carried out the delivery.
The baby, weighing around 2.5 kg, is in the NICU, while her mother is in the isolation ward. “Once her reports are negative 48 hours apart, she can be out of the isolation ward and can even hold her baby,” Dr. Mhatre said. The woman’s husband and sister-in-law are in quarantine, and their reports are awaited.
Dr. Mhatre said there is no evidence of a woman passing on the infection to the baby in pregnancy. He said every person involved in the procedure wore personal protective equipment.
The woman suffers from dextrocardia, a rare condition of having the heart on the right, and hence throughout her pregnancy, had visited various hospitals. At DY Patil and JJ hospitals, her swab test was done as per protocol. “Since the reports were delayed, she had a test done at a private lab,” Dr. Mhatre said.