Gurugram: At polyclinic for pregnant Covid-19 patients, no labour room, blood bank or ultrasound

GURUGRAM: The lone facility in the city to cater to pregnant women who have tested positive for Covid-19 is yet to become fully operational.
The polyclinic in Sector 31 was designated to handle such pregnancy cases last week. Worryingly, it lacks basic healthcare facilities, such as a labour room, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), blood bank, ultrasound facility and an isolated negative pressure room.

The polyclinic was a quarantine centre till last week with only 20 beds. Doctors at the facility said they are yet to decide how many more beds are now required. During a spot check, TOI found that at present, there are two pregnant Covid-19 patients at the polyclinic, and the staff is struggling to provide them medical facilities.
While one of the women is seven months pregnant, the other, a 30-year-old resident of Khandsa village, is already past her due date. She had approached the Civil Hospital in Sector 10 for delivery on May 14. But after she tested positive for Covid-19 the next day, she was transferred to the Sector 31 polyclinic, as the Civil Hospital is not equipped to help Covid-19 positive women with deliveries.
“After a few nurses tested positive for Covid-19 at Civil Hospital, it is no longer handling Covid-19 patients. So the woman was transferred to our centre,” said a doctor at the polyclinic, not wishing to be named. While there is a gynaecology ward in place, another doctor pointed out that the centre had never conducted any delivery till date and was not ready to manage cases of pregnant Covid-19 patients. The woman’s samples were sent for retest on May 23. The results are awaited.
“If the test is negative, we can deliver the baby in the Sector 10 hospital. However, if it’s positive again, we will have to look at other options. The polyclinic was an orthopaedic OT. With the current infrastructure, we cannot deal with cases of pregnant Covid-19 patients. We are trying to contact hospitals in Delhi if they would be willing to take our patient,” said Dr Neena Grewal, in-charge of the polyclinic, said.
Gurugram chief medical officer JS Punia told TOI that the health department team was working towards making the Sector 31 polyclinic functional.