Assam: Covid patient delivers healthy baby in ambulance

GUWAHATI: A 20-year-old Covid patient delivered a healthy baby in an ambulance while she was on her way to Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH).
The woman was at her maternal home at Chintamoni Garh near Teok, where she got infected. She started experiencing labour pain on Tuesday morning, and was initially taken to Bhogamukh Model Hospital, which is nearby, her family said. However, her mother was worried if her delivery will be done seamlessly, as she was Covid-positive, and wanted her daughter to be admitted in the JMCH.
Health officials said at the request of the family, the woman was referred to JMCH and hospital authorities called the 108 ambulance. “The family wished to go to JMCH for better facilities. The 108 ambulance stationed at Teok (15km away) took 20 mins to reach the destination. However, shortly after she boarded the ambulance, she slipped into labour, and minutes later delivered a baby girl inside the ambulance. The baby is healthy and is with her mother at JMCH,” said Lilima Mala, the nurse at Chintamoni Garh health sub-centre.
While the woman was being transported with the help of the emergency medical team (EMT), wearing PPE kits, it was a major challenge to complete the journey to JMCH, which was still 15 km away. “As the labour pain became unbearable, the ambulance stopped at Lahdoigarh. The medical team in the ambulance succeeded in completing the delivery,” a health official added.
The baby has tested negative and another Covid test will be performed on the mother in the next 24 hours.
“The woman will be released as per discharge protocol,” a health official said, adding, “The rate of infection in the second wave is faster. But in this case, it was surprising that the baby girl tested negative despite being with the mother for hours.”
Pregnant women, who contracted the virus, have been a huge concern for families. However, doctors said in case of pregnant women or lactating mothers, the general health condition and other health parameters are vital to resist the virus infection. “We have put the Covid-positive mothers, who just delivered babies, in the Covid ward. Several such cases were reported yesterday. The newborn babies are kept with the mother or in the paediatric section,” Dr Purnima Baruah, superintendent of JMCH, said.
Mothers are allowed to breastfeed their babies by wearing masks and sanitizing before and after handling the child. Several mother-to-baby infections have been detected in Assam but health experts said though blood or intra-uterine virus transmission has not been medically proven, virus infection can spread, while handling the mother and the baby during delivery.