Pregnant women and new mothers who have contracted COVID-19, especially those from lower income groups, are finding it difficult to get adequate care. Two pregnant women, one with a 11-month-old toddler, all of whom are COVID-19 positive and asymptomatic, struggled to find a facility where they could isolate themselves. They were admitted in a hospital for three days, but the staff wanted to discharge them as they were asymptomatic.
The trio belong to the waste-picker community and are residents of Vinayaka Badavane community area, T.C. Palya, near K.R. Puram, where isolating themselves is difficult.
Hasiru Dala, an organisation that works with the waste-picker community, tried to help them by checking if they could be admitted in COVID-19 Care centres (CCCs). However, they were told that since pregnancy is considered to be a co-morbidity, the women could not be admitted in CCCs.
A volunteer with Whitefield Rising, who coordinated with Hasiru Dala, said “Where could these two women and the toddler go? The lockdown has severely depleted their earnings, and they cannot afford private rooms in hotels.”
After a lot of effort, the women and the toddler have now been admitted to a private hospital.
These cases have highlighted the need for separate facilities for women and children who have tested positive for COVID-19. Gosha Hospital in Shivajinagar has been directed to take in COVID-19 positive pregnant women at least two weeks prior to delivery.
Lakshmi Karunakaran, programme director, Hasiru Dala, told The Hindu that there is a lot of confusion on handling such cases. “There are no specific guidelines for such cases, especially women and children from the under privileged communities. The CCCs are not equipped to take care of pregnant women and children,” she said.
BBMP’s Chief Health Officer (Clinical) Nirmala Buggi said that the civic body was aware of the issues faced by pregnant women and was coordinating with officials of the Karnataka government. The BBMP had, in fact, identified three maternity hospitals in Austin Town, Gavipuram Guttahalli and Moodalapalya that could be converted to step-down hospitals for COVID-19 positive pregnant women. These hospitals will be monitored by Gosha Hospital. Once the proposal is approved, these hospitals can admit pregnant women and their toddlers (up to six years).
