Chennai: A woman delivered a baby boy outside a locked primary health centre at Kambainallur near Dharmapuri early Thursday, even as the CM, a few days ago declared that Tamil Nadu has the best health are in the country.
G. Deeba, 23, was rushed to Kambainallur PHC from Kongarampatti village after she got labour pain at around midnight on Thursday only to find the PHC locked, with no one there to help.
Deeba could not be taken to another PHC or hospital as she had extreme pain and was nearing delivery, said Govindan, husband of Deeba. It was the locals who rendered support at the odd hours and finally, relatives managed to deliver the baby after her struggle of three hours.
“We could not even find a pair of scissors to cut the umbilical cord”, said a relative after shifting the mother and child to Dharmapuri government hospital in an ambulance that arrived after all the painful ordeal was over.
Locals held a protest demonstration at the Kambainallur PHC the following day and also took to stone pelting that damaged the PHC premises. Police personnel from the Harur police station and tahsildar rushed to the spot and assured people of immediate action to facilitate medical services round the clock.
“There is a shortage of staff and authorities have been unresponsive in deploying a full-time doctor at the PHC. There is no provision of medical services in case of emergency situations at odd hours. Authorities should arrange for night duty doctors and paramedical staff to prevent such situations,” alleged a local resident.
When contacted, deputy director Dr K. Jagadeesh admitted to allegations of the locals stating that there were two nurses at the PHC, while one got transferred. “The deputy nurse did not join on the assigned date. We are trying to deploy adequate staff to monitor medical services at night,” he said.
