Kota maternal deaths: Om Birla gives Rs 5 lakh aid to grieving kin

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla provided Rs 5 lakh aid to families of pregnant women who died at Kota Medical College Hospital. He said an investigation is underway and those found guilty will face action. A similar probe is on in Bhilwara.

Om Birla provides financial aid to families

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday handed over cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of pregnant women who died during treatment at Kota Medical College Hospital.

Speaking with the media, Birla expressed grief over the deaths and said the families will also benefit from Palanhar Yojana. "We are deeply saddened and pained by their loss. It is very difficult to raise a child if the mother is not in the family... We stand with the family in this hour of grief. To ensure that the family receives socio-economic support, we have provided them with Rs 5 lakh each through public support. Their children will benefit from the Palanhaar Yojana, along with the benefits of government schemes," Birla, who is MP from Kota, said.

Investigation launched, action assured

He also said those found guilty during the investigation would face action and added that medical experts from AIIMS and Jaipur had submitted recommendations to the hospital administration to prevent such incidents in the future. "Whoever is found guilty in the investigation will face the consequences. To ensure that such incidents do not occur again, teams of medical experts from AIIMS and Jaipur have provided recommendations to the hospital administration," Birla said.

Four deaths reported in Bhilwara

Bhilwara Collector Inderjeet Yadav said on Saturday that four cases of maternal death "have been reported at the District Hospital since 6th". 'The first case was admitted on the 6th, and the patient expired twenty-four hours later. The next case was on the 8th, and then two more cases were reported on the 10th. A committee of five doctors has been formed by the PMO to conduct a detailed investigation... Furthermore, the State Medical Department has been informed. A senior doctor is being sent from there to assist in the investigation. Whatever the reasons, these will be thoroughly investigated, and any gaps in treatment or adherence to SOPs will be addressed. If negligence is found at any level, departmental action will be taken... Different reasons for death are being cited in all four cases, and since it's a matter of expertise, we'll only be able to tell you about it after expert opinion," he said.

State-level probe underway

Principal Secretary, Medical Department, Gayatri Rathore, said that the cause of the deaths is being probed. "In Kota also, we did a detailed analysis of each woman who delivered, to see what their case history was. Our primary preliminary report for Bhilwara will also be available within the next few days... Usually, where there are large tertiary care centres, there are higher numbers of high-risk pregnancies that have a tendency to PPH or very high blood pressure or are anaemic," she said.

"We'll be able to inform you once we've collected samples from the OT to determine if there's any infection, and to assess the equipment and the entire OT protocol and medicines... Our effort is to provide better medical facilities to our population, from childbirth to old age," she added. (ANI)

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