A 25-year-old woman died at Bikaner's PBM Hospital after battling post-Caesarean complications for over a month, the third maternal death at the facility in recent weeks, officials said on Wednesday, as Rajasthan struggled with a surge in such cases.
The state has reported 19 maternal deaths, mostly linked to post-Caesarean complications and kidney failure, in three months, bringing hospital practices under the scanner.
The state government ordered inquiries on July 11 after nine such deaths in two government hospitals of Bhilwara and Banswara districts over the previous week. It also launched a five-day statewide campaign from Wednesday to screen all pregnant women for key health parameters.
Family members of Kamla Meghwal, who died after childbirth at PBM Hospital, along with members of various organisations, sat on a dharna outside the mortuary on Wednesday morning, alleging medical negligence.
The protesters, led by youth leader Ramniwas Kukna, demanded action against doctors and a postmortem by a competent medical board. They also demanded financial assistance for Kamla's family.
The deceased woman's husband alleged that the doctors did not provide them proper information and that the police forcibly took away the body.
PBM Hospital Superintendent Dr B C Ghiya said Kamla Mehgwal was admitted to the hospital's ICU on June 8. She was a diabetic and in her third pregnancy.
A team of doctors treated her throughout, and her condition had shown improvement at one point, but her health deteriorated suddenly and she could not be saved despite the medical team's best efforts, he said.
"Our team made every possible effort to save her, but we could not succeed," Dr Ghiya said.
A senior PBM Hospital official said Meghwal delivered on the same day she was admitted, and both mother and child were initially stable.
Since she was a diabetic and had already undergone two prior Caesarean deliveries, doctors said another C-section was medically necessary, and the procedure itself went off without complications.
However, she developed complications the very next day, on June 9, and was put on dialysis. Her condition improved briefly, with urine output resuming and ventilator support withdrawn, the official said.
She subsequently underwent another surgery related to her C-section stitches, but her condition worsened due to multiple organ failure, leading to her death, the official said, adding her child is stable.
Of the 19 maternal deaths recorded across Rajasthan in the past three months, five were reported from Kota, three from Bikaner, two from Jodhpur, and nine from Bhilwara and Banswara.
Ghiya said the condition of six women had worsened following deliveries at the hospital. While three died, the remaining three have been discharged.
Meghwal's death comes weeks after two other women died at the same hospital following similar post-delivery complications.
On June 19, 20-year-old Preeti died at the facility in Bikaner after developing complications post-delivery. Two days later, 26-year-old Sharda succumbed after developing kidney failure and undergoing multiple rounds of dialysis. All three women had reported stoppage of urine output within 24 hours of their surgery, the officials said.
Rajasthan Principal Secretary (Medical and Health) Gayatri Rathore on Tuesday announced an intensive screening drive aims to strengthen maternal and child health services and further reduce maternal mortality in the state.
"A five-day drive will be conducted from July 15 under which intensive screening of all pregnant women will be carried out across the state," Rathore had said.
During the campaign, records of important antenatal check-ups of pregnant women will be maintained to ensure regular monitoring of their health, she added.
