Jaipur, July 21 (IANS) The deaths of two women following childbirth in Jodhpur on Monday have once again raised concerns over maternal healthcare in Rajasthan, even as the state government claims to have intensified monitoring of pregnant women through a massive statewide inspection campaign.
The latest fatalities come after similar maternal deaths were reported from Kota, Bikaner, and Banswara, prompting renewed scrutiny of the state’s referral system and emergency obstetric care.
One of the deceased, Samu, underwent a normal delivery at Tinwari Hospital on June 24 and gave birth to a baby girl.
However, severe postpartum bleeding could not be controlled, forcing doctors to refer her first to Umaid Hospital and later to Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in Jodhpur. Doctors performed an emergency hysterectomy (uterus removal) after the bleeding continued. Despite multiple blood transfusions, dialysis, and ventilator support, she succumbed to complications late on Sunday.
According to hospital authorities, Samu suffered hypovolemic shock due to massive blood loss, resulting in kidney failure and multi-organ complications. During treatment, she received six units of blood, 14 units of plasma, and 10 units of cryoprecipitate.
In the second case, Dimple was admitted to Mathuradas Mathur Hospital on June 30, the day she delivered her baby. She remained under treatment for nearly 20 days, but her condition suddenly deteriorated on July 19. She died later that night. Her post-mortem was conducted on July 20. Hospital officials said 16 women who recently gave birth have developed serious health complications in Jodhpur over the past month, with most of them having undergone Caesarean deliveries.
Among them is Dhapu, who allegedly suffered complications after receiving an incompatible blood transfusion at Umaid Hospital. She remains under treatment.
Currently, five women are admitted to Umaid Hospital, while two others, including Dhapu, are undergoing treatment at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital. Ironically, the maternal deaths come just days after the Rajasthan government completed a five-day statewide intensive inspection campaign (July 15-19) aimed at improving maternal healthcare.
According to the Medical and Health Department officials, 3,56,783 pregnant women had their medical records reviewed, 37,558 high-risk pregnancies were specially monitored, 14,836 pregnant women were contacted through real-time verification and interviews to assess the quality of healthcare services, 8,414 health institutions were inspected for medicine availability, diagnostics, equipment functionality, hygiene, and overall service quality and 7,731 Mother and Child Health & Nutrition (MCHN) sessions were monitored.
During 3,062 Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) sessions held on July 18, 1,05,629 pregnant women received specialist antenatal care. Blood tests were conducted for 98,247 women, while 12,173 women received iron sucrose therapy and 9,284 were administered FCM injections to manage severe anaemia.
As many as 16,634 pregnant women received Mother Vouchers for free sonography, officials said.
Principal Government Secretary Gayatri Rathore said every identified high-risk pregnant woman will now be monitored by the concerned ANM every third day, and deficiencies found during inspections are being addressed immediately. In the wake of the state’s maternal health review, Chief Secretary V. Srinivas chaired a high-level meeting at Swasthya Bhawan and directed officials to strengthen the referral management system, particularly in rural areas.
He instructed district health officials to ensure timely availability of 104 and 108 ambulances for emergency referrals, advance intimation to referral hospitals before patient transfer, continuous monitoring of high-risk pregnancies, especially women suffering from severe anaemia, and adequate availability of blood, medicines, and emergency medical resources at government hospitals.
District officials informed the meeting that name-wise mapping of every high-risk pregnant woman has been completed, with each case linked to the concerned ANM for regular follow-up.
While the state government has highlighted extensive monitoring and quality assessments, the deaths in Jodhpur have raised questions about the effectiveness of emergency obstetric care and the implementation of referral protocols at the ground level.
Health experts point out that postpartum haemorrhage remains one of the leading causes of maternal mortality, making timely referral, availability of blood products, and rapid intervention critical to saving lives. The latest incidents are likely to intensify the debate over maternal healthcare standards in Rajasthan despite the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen monitoring and antenatal services.
–IANS
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