“From the beginning of her pregnancy till the time she was admitted to the hospital, Amrita was in good health. She had visited the health post near her home regularly and the health worker their told her that the baby in her womb was growing perfectly.
While she did give birth to a healthy baby, she died soon after the delivery. “Doctors say that she died due to excessive bleeding, but we find it hard to belive,” said Laxmi Bhatta, sister-in-law of the deceased.
According to the nurses at the hospital, Amrita was attended by some MBBS students who had come to the hospital for “training.”
“As she was suffering from birth pangs, some trainee MBBS students attended to her. Maybe the case was complicated, but things went wrong as she was treated by novices,” said a nurse requesting anonymity.
Laxmi, the sister-in-law of Amrita, was inconsolable. She said that the death was a result of sheer negligence. “We were so happy when they told us that Amrita gave birth to a daughter. We called our relatives to share the good news,” she said.
“After the delivery, doctors told that Amrita was serious. After that, for about an hour, the doctors told nothing to us,” said Laxmi. She said that all the family members were happy that the delivery was normal.
“Then suddenly a doctor told us that we need to take her to some other hospital as her condition was critical,” said Laxmi.
The family then rushed Amrita to Maternity Hospital, Thapathali, Kathmandu. But she had already died on the way as she was bleeding profusely.
MBBS classes at IOM delayed by a month
Laxmi said she strongly believed that the death occurred because the MBBS students looked at the delivery process as an experiment. Krishna Prasad Neupanne, another relative of the deceased, said that the doctors were not serious about the case. “Had they alerted us about the problem, we would have done something to save her life. We would have taken to another hospital without wasting a minute,” he fumed.
Three days before the death of Amrita, a similar incident happened with a woman from Jiling village of Nuwakot. Sumitra Bhatta, 35, had come to the hospital for safe delivery. However, she died even before giving birth to her baby.
A lot of women and their children reaching to government health facilities are falling victim to poor services.
Leaving serious patients under the care of MBBS students is not the only problem. Lack of necessary equipments, ventilator and emergency services are contributing equally to the death of babies and mothers in the district.
When reached for comment, Chief gynecologist at the hospital, Dr Madhukar Dahal, simply refused to respond. Other doctors stated that the lack of basic facilities at the hospital was largely to blame for the deaths of Amrita and Sumitra.
“Some delivery cases become complicated suddenly. A patient who is in normal condition might all of a sudden develop problems. In case of both Amrita and Sumitra their platelets and hemoglobin count was below average,” said Dr Suraj Khanal. “It is sometimes difficult to tackle such cases, more so, when there are no proper facilities at the hospital.”
Dr Khanal, however, said nothing about the practice of letting MBBS students attend to serious patients.
It is evident that a growing number of women are falling victim to this trend.
Sunita Lama, a local of Rasuwa district expressed surprise over the hospital’s approach. “How can they allow inexperienced students to handle serious delivery cases? But sadly, such tragedies have been taking place over and over again. The government inaction on the issue is even more baffling for us,” she said, adding that the administration should have taken strong action against the hospital.
The hospital, which is run by Trishuli Medical College, often allows interns from the hospital to treat patients. Lama said that there should be strict provisions against this issue.
“All medical colleges have their own hospitals. And their students play with the lives of patients as they experiment with the people visiting the hospitals. Who is going to control this practice?” she questioned.
Lama herself had a bitter experience in the hospital recently. “I was admitted here a couple of weeks ago. Now I am here for a follow up. The doctors were giving training to the students using me as a subject. After I protested, they felt uncomfortable.”
The government spends millions of rupees every year for safe motherhood programs. However, in lack of proper implementation of its policies and plans, hundreds of Nepali mothers and new born are forced to die prematurely just like in the Trishuli hospital.
