By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 19: Health Minister, AL Hek, on Friday refuted the allegations of negligence on the part of Sohra CHC that led to the death of a newborn in February.
Replying to a call attention motion moved by Nongpoh MLA Mayralborn Syiem, Hek said that as per hospital reports, the mother was provided due care and there was no laxity on the part of the CHC staff.
Hek affirmed that Sohra CHC has been providing “excellent” healthcare services and only in 2019, the total number of deliveries in the CHC was 226 which include 213 normal deliveries and 13 C-Sections with 161 referrals. “There was only one neonatal death in that year, in the month of February,” the health minister said.
In the year 2020, Hek said the total number of deliveries in the CHC was 487 with 329 normal deliveries and 158 C-Sections done with 73 referrals and six neonatal deaths. He also said that for the past three years, there have been no maternal deaths and this bears witness to the performance of the CHC.
The health minister revealed that the underlying cause of high maternal and infant deaths in Meghalaya can be attributed to not only clinical management or public health management but to often unaddressed socio-economic and gender dimensions.
Last month, the Civil Society Women’s Organisation (CSWO) had alleged that a baby died at the Sohra CHC on February 19 reportedly because of negligence on the part of the medical staff of the government facility.
The CSWO had also alleged that the woman had labour pain while she was in the ward, and later, delivered the child, which later died.
To this, the health minister said that taking cognizance of the issue, the woman and the attendant were advised to call on Ganesh Das Hospital by the CHC authorities since it had no pediatrician and the specialist was not in station either. However, the patient refused to go to Ganesh Das Hospital.