Pregnant woman dies of sunstroke after walking for 7 km to Hospital
A pregnant tribal woman died of sunstroke after walking seven kilometres from her village to hospital in Maharashtra's Palghar district.
Maharashtra: A 21-year-old pregnant tribal woman died of sunstroke after walking seven kilometres from her village to a primary health centre (PHC) and back to her home in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, said health official on Sunday.
The incident occurred on Friday when Sonali Waghat, from Osar Veera town in Dahanu taluka, walked for 3.5 km under the burning sun to arrive at an expressway close by, from where she took an auto-cart to the Tawa PHC as she was not keeping well, said Palghar region common specialist Dr. Sanjay Bodade.
According to the doctor, the woman was nine months pregnant and was treated at PHC and sent home. She again had to walk 3.5 kilometres from the highway amid the summer heat.
She again went to the Dhundalwadi PHC when she developed health issues later that evening. They referred her to the Kasa sub-divisional hospital (SDH), where she was diagnosed to have a “semi-comorbid condition.” She also had a high temperature and was taken to a special hospital in Dahanu called Dhundalwadi. However, she passed away in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and lost her foetus too.
She was not in labour pain, and specialists at the Kasa PHC had offered her quick consideration. Since they couldn’t get her due to her “semi-comorbid condition”, they referred her to a speciality clinic.
According to the official, the woman’s condition worsened as she walked seven kilometres in the hot weather, which eventually led to sunstroke and her death.
On Monday morning, Palghar Zilla Parishad president Prakash Nikam told reporters that the woman had anaemia and had been brought to the SDH by an ASHA (accredited social health activist) worker. The specialists there really looked at her and gave her medicine, but in vain, he said.
He stated that the Kasa SDH does not have an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) to treat such patients in an emergency. He stated, “The tribal woman’s life could have been saved if these facilities had been there.”
Nikam said he will take up this issue at a fitting level and guarantee such incidents don’t repeat.
Ms Kalinga