A 20-year-old COVID-19 positive woman from Lilong,Thoubal district in Manipur gave birth to a baby girl at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) at around 2.30 am Monday.
“Both mother and daughter are healthy. They are put under observation and will be shifted to COVID-19 Care ward soon,” said head of department of Gynaecology, RIMS, Dr Ranjit Singh. The baby weighing 3.25 kg is the first child of the parents.
Dr Ranjit said she was admitted at RIMS emergency ward on Sunday at 4.48 pm. The delivery was just two days short of the expected date, he said. Before being admitted to the hospital, she was tested for COVID-19 with a rapid antigen test conducted at Lilong Primary Health Centre. The test was taken on the previous day and her results came negative in the report, the doctor added.
He said, as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of RIMS, the patient and her caretaker took a rapid antigen test. She was found positive for COVID-19 and therefore, treated as a COVID-19 patient. At present, she does not have symptoms of the disease like breathing difficulty, throat pain and fever, he stated.
“We are taking utmost care for the patient,” he said while informing that the paediatric doctor told that the baby is healthy and also suggested that the mother can breastfeed the baby. The baby has not been tested for COVID-19, he said.
"The Gynaecology emergency department has been working round the clock during the COVID-19 crisis. We do not differentiate the patients by class, religions or whether they are COVID-19 positive,” he said.
A 20-year-old pregnant woman from Noney district died on Thursday morning allegedly due to denial of medical services at five hospitals, including JNIMS and RIMS.
Chief Minister N Biren had instructed all government and private hospitals to attend to all patients. Any violation will be viewed severely and action will be taken under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Manipur Nursing Home and Clinical Registration Act, 1992 etc, he said on his Facebook post. He said an enquiry committee has been constituted to look into the unfortunate incident leading to her death.
To ensure that there is no denial of service 'round the clock' a toll free helpline number has been established namely State Health Agency, wherein any person denied treatment by a hospital can be immediately called on 1800-103-2015, said a notification issued by the state health department on Friday. It said, a mobile team has been activated by the directorate of health services to follow up with hospitals in the Imphal area during night hours.
