NAGPUR: Sarojana Budha, 20, from Raspalli village in remote Gadchiroli district had no idea her first delivery would turn into a real life drama with life and death consequences.
On Tuesday, she had to be rushed 60km in an ambulance to a hospital with the baby visible outside her body but stuck. The bumpy ride was necessitated after the lone nurse at Jimulgatta PHC of Aheri taluka where Sarojana had reached tried to deliver the baby for hours but failed. Her story illustrates the kind of challenges people and healthcare workers in rural areas still face.
The nurse at Jimulgatta PHC began trying since 1 pm when Sarojana reached there and finally decided to shift her to Aheri sub-district hospital at 10 pm. She was alone at the PHC as the medical officer had isolated herself after the senior nurse had tested Covid positive some days ago.
When she found something was obstructing the baby’s path she, Sarojana and her family rushed out in an ambulance. They took the roller-coaster ride from Jimulgatta to Aheri at top speed on pot-holed Sironcha road to ensure mother and baby’s lives were saved.
Budha’s relatives had their hearts in their mouth before she gave birth to her first child at Aheri hospital under medical supervision. The family was relieved after the baby was born at 11.55 pm but it had to be kept in ICU.
Budha’s brother Dhammapal Durke said around a sixth of the baby’s head was out when she was brought from PHC to Aheri’s hospital. “The baby was stuck. It had remained like that for several hours as the nurse at PHC kept on trying to deliver. The delay could have proved costly,” said Durke. “When she finally decided , there was hardly any time left and we had to rush. The road was pathetic and travelling that far on it could have been fatal,” he said.
District health officer Dr Shashikant Shambarkar said the decision to shift the pregnant woman was taken due to obstruction in the delivery. “Our nurse was accompanying the woman in the ambulance. She had herself tried for the delivery but decided to shift after realizing the obstruction may need higher level of medical attention,” he said.