Nurses at dedicated Covid-19 hosp help 27-yr-old woman deliver baby

Coimbatore: Nurses at the Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, which is the district’s main Covid-19 treatment centre that receive only Covid-19 emergency cases with breathing difficulties, helped to bring a new life into the world on Thursday.
The nurses were surprised when they received a woman in the throes of labour at 9.30am. Though the woman had not undergone Covid-19 test, the nurses took care of her and she delivered a healthy baby boy after eight minutes.
The 27-year-old woman from Neelikonampalayam was in the final stages of her second pregnancy when she visited the private hospital she was consulting on Wednesday. After examining her, doctors there told her to come back after three days.
However, on Thursday morning, the woman began suffering strong contraction and when it began to get severe, her family decided to take her to the private hospital. However, as pain became unbearable, they rushed her to the ESI Hospital, which was close to their home.
“When nurses at emergency examined her, they realized she was fully dilated and that they could see the head. Her water also broke,” said hospital dean Dr Nirmala.
Realizing that the baby was unlikely to stay inside until she reached the private hospital, the nurses decided to handle her delivery, knowing that she had not undergone Covid-19 test. The baby boy weighing 2.85 kilogram was born at 9.38am. “Both the baby, who was given to doctors in the paediatric for check-up, and the mother who was examined by the gynaecologist on duty, were declared healthy, but kept in an isolation ward because we are a Covid-19 hospital,” said the dean. “After a few hours, on the patient and her family’s request, the mother and baby were shifted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital,” she told TOI.
The dean praised the nurses for timely intervention, not worrying about patient’s probable Covid-19 status or waiting for a doctor to arrive.