Hyderabad: State-run maternity hospitals in Telangana, especially the tertiary hospitals in Hyderabad that receive pregnant women needing critical care from across the State, have managed to keep a check on Covid infections and at the same time perform a large number of safe deliveries during the ongoing Covid pandemic.
In fact, in the last one-year, government maternity hospitals across Telangana, despite the risks of Covid-19 infections, have outperformed private hospitals by performing more deliveries and also managing to limit the Covid infections.
During the entire course of the pandemic, there has been no drop in the number of pregnancies in the State-run maternity hospitals. At the same time, so far there have been no major instances of surge in Covid infections at any of the government tertiary maternity care facilities in Hyderabad.
In 2020-21, these maternity hospitals have managed to perform better than private healthcare facilities. Overall, in the last one year there have been 4,37,055 pregnancies in Telangana out of which 2,31,310 pregnancies were conducted in the government hospitals.
“Initially when Covid-19 pandemic broke and lockdown was imposed, there was a drastic drop in numbers. In the following months, as the curbs were being relaxed, there was a rise in the number of Covid infections among patients and even doctors. However, we gradually learned and ensured to educate pregnant women about safety precautions. Today, expectant mothers who come to maternity hospitals are far more cautious and take all possible Covid precautions, which has gone a long way in putting a check to Covid,” said Superintendent of Petlaburj Maternity Hosptial, Dr K Naga Mani.
Senior government paediatricians have pointed out that healthcare workers and pregnant women have learnt to manage with SARS-CoV-2. They also note that strict protocols and guidelines have been established to reduce infections. Special isolation wards have been set up at the maternity hospitals for pregnant women with typical symptoms of Covid which has gone a long way in breaking the transmission chains. Those who have tested positive for Covid, have been referred to a higher healthcare facility like Gandhi Hospital for undergoing pregnancy.
During the weekly outpatient days, almost all the major maternity hospitals in the city including those located in Sultan Bazaar, Petlaburj and Niloufer Hospital receive anywhere between 500 and 600 pregnant women in a single-day. Despite the rush, the Covid infections have remained under control.
“Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are putting in a lot of effort in ensuring precautions are taken to stop the spread of infections. Pregnant women also take precautions while they are in the hospital. I personally also think that herd immunity has helped,” senior paediatrician at Niloufer Hospital, Dr B Narahari, said.
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