Another woman died at the JK Lone Hospital attached to the Rajasthan government-run Kota Medical College after developing complications after a caesarean section, taking the total number of such deaths in the district to four in the past week, officials said on Monday.
The deceased is identified as Pinky Mahawar, 30, a resident of Shriram Nagar. She is the second woman to die after undergoing a caesarean section at JK Lone Hospital in the past 24 hours. The other two cases were reported from New Medical College Hospital (NMCH), also attached to Kota Medical College.
“This is the fourth death due to similar causes. The first and second deaths occurred at our medical college hospital, while the third and fourth deaths occurred on Saturday and Sunday at JK Lone Hospital,” NMCH Director Dr Nilesh Jain said.
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The 30-year-old was admitted to JK Lone Hospital on May 7. Officials said she underwent a caesarean section that same night and gave birth to a baby girl. However, her condition allegedly deteriorated the next day, and she underwent another surgery and was placed on a ventilator.
Her husband, Chandra Prakash, a daily wage labourer, alleged negligence in her treatment and claimed that she was not referred to a higher medical center until her condition became critical on May 10. He also claimed that on May 10 at around 8.30 pm, JK Lone Hospital staff shifted her to the super-speciality ward of NMCH, where she died during treatment.
Earlier, Priya Mahawar (22) died after contracting a kidney infection after undergoing a caesarean section at JK Lone Hospital on the intervening night of May 9-10. Before her, two other women, Payal (26) and Jyoti Nayak (19), died on May 5 and May 7, respectively, at NMCH.
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“They all had similar symptoms of low blood pressure and kidney infections which caused their death,” Dr Jain said, adding that a team from SMS Hospital in Jaipur is investigating the deaths at both the facilities.
“They collected urine and blood samples and sent them to the laboratory to trace the specific cause. “It is very unusual that all these women from two hospitals developed similar problems after a caesarean section,” the NMCH director said, adding that four other women currently being treated at NMCH are in “critical condition.”
After the death, the woman’s family, local residents and Congress workers staged a protest. “This is pure negligence on the part of the hospitals. This is a result of the deplorable condition of these government health facilities. We spoke to her relatives. They claimed that the doctor ignored her health condition,” said Kota Congress president Gautam, who only gave his name. “An autopsy will not be done until the doctors are transferred.”
Meanwhile, state Health Minister Gayatri Rathore also arrived in Kota on Monday evening to take stock of the situation.
