Health and Family Welfare Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh has said disciplinary action will be taken against health providers of the Jowai Maternity and Child Hospital (MCH), if lapses are found.
The state government is awaiting the report from a four-member committee constituted to look into the deaths of a mother and her newborn at the hospital.
Lyngdoh expressed grief over the deaths. She said that the government formed a committee and reports are being prepared into the incident.
The Health Minister said that the government will ensure that such incidents do not happen again. She added that the department will take disciplinary action if any lapses are found to have occurred on that particular day.
According to Lyngdoh, Meghalaya has been able to efficiently bring down its maternal mortality rate (MMR) through various recent interventions.
On June 3, Pynche Bareh (37), from Jalaphet in East Jaintia Hills, was referred to the Jowai hospital from Sutnga Community Health Centre where she initially went for treatment for bleeding. On June 4, she reported abdominal pain at 5:30pm and then again at 6:20pm and her condition began to deteriorate from 8:10pm. She was finally declared dead at 9:15pm. Her baby also did not survive.
The victim’s family has alleged negligence, stating that they had to repeatedly call for attention to the patient and that the hospital staff did not respond promptly.
The Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has also taken suo moto cognizance of the incident and issued a notice to the government.
