150 patients use the services of this hospital every month
As a result, during emergencies, patients have to either shift to a private nursing home or travel all the way to Sion hospital, putting the lives of bothwoman and their babies at great risk.
A large number of middle-class and lower middle-class families living in the suburb and adjacent localities depend on this maternity home.
As per available data, on an average around 150 women use the services of this hospital every month. Around 100 deliveries take place in the same period at this maternity home, which is managed by one MBBS-qualified doctor.
Locals have been demanding that the BMC appoint a gynecologist at this maternity home for the past several years.
Says Hemlata Sukale, the local municipal councillor, The absence of a gynecologist at this maternity home has been problematic for many residents.
I have been asking the authorities to appoint a specialist gynecologist here for the past two years. I have even raised the issue in various meetings with the deputy municipal commissioner.
This has proved fatal for patients on certain occasions. Says Sampoornanand Pandey, resident of Aishwarya building on Goshala Road, Recently my sister-in-law was taken to the maternity home in an emergency.
She was not admitted here and we had to take her to Rajawadi. Because of the delay, the fetus died before delivery, but the doctors there were able to save her life.
Sukale adds that earlier the maternity home had an arrangement wherein it would call for an honorary gynecologist during an emergency. Now this practice has been discontinued, he says.
The money paid to these honorary doctors is very little and they have stopped coming here for the past two years.
She adds that officials keep saying that most of the BMC-run maternity homes function without the services of a gynecologist and add that the one in Mulund cannot be an exception.
The authorities should consider the fact that Mulund is far away from Sion, counters Sukale. Now that the honorary doctors also do not visit the maternity home, the BMC should try and fix the situation.
She adds that she had also suggested to the BMC that they station gynecologists in shifts at the maternity home. Altogether there are four gynecologists in the other two BMC hospitals in the suburb, says Sukale.
The BMC should try and ensure that they come to the maternity home in shifts. For example, one of these doctors can be present at the home for a few hours every day, she explains.
When contacted, Dr Ramesh Kathuria, executive health officer, BMC, says that that he has received both complaints and suggestions from the local corporator. We are studying the various possibilities and a decision will be taken soon, he adds.
babu@mid-day.com
Gynaecologist needed for BMC maternity home in Mulund
Date: 2003-1-11
