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Pregnancy can be unpredictable and anxiety-ridden without the added stress of an ongoing pandemic. In the post-coronavirus era, hospital services and staff are facing quite a strain. In addition to treating everyday emergencies and other known diseases, these essential workers are on the frontline, fighting a pandemic.
As the war against the virus continues, healthcare workers have been deemed as heroes among us. Doctors and hospital staff, who continue to enter the battlefield day after day – being fully aware of the fatal consequences of being infected. Since the coronavirus outbreak, there have been cases of doctors who died due to lack of equipment, or doctors who were shunned by their society after their death. Despite these ungrateful gestures, these heroes persevere. Here’s the story of one such hero who once again ignited a flame of hope in these dark times.
Doctor Mohammed Mukram of Telangana’s Mahabubabad district drove through the forests at night to ascertain that an expectant mother could access the healthcare she required. The doctor made a journey of 70 kilometers to execute this humbling feat. With the help of an ASHA worker, Doctor Mukram shifted the 28-year-old pregnant woman to a public healthcare center.
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Gatti Manjula, the Koya tribal woman, is from the Kolaram village of Mahabubabad district. Late in the evening, Gatti Manjula experienced labor pains and suffered from a premature rupture of the membrane. In other words, she was expecting the baby to be delivered at any given time. Since her village is located in a remote area, the nearest primary healthcare was almost 20 kilometers away. To make matters worse, there was no ambulance available to shift Gatti Manjula to a facility where she could receive proper health care.
When Doctor Mukram was notified about the case, he drove at night to make sure that this woman had a safe institutional delivery. The doctor was leaving the facility for the day to return home when he received a call from Padma, the ASHA worker in the aforementioned remote village. The doctor stated that he was aware that the only available ambulance was engaged and was sent to another public healthcare center. The 35-year-old doctor, understanding the urgency of Gatti Manjula’s situation drove his own car through the forest to help her out of this situation.
When the doctor delivered a baby girl they noticed that she was blue. They revived the baby by sucking out the secretion from the newborn’s lungs which caused her difficulty in breathing. Had Doctor Mukram not been empathetic towards Manjula’s situation, there might have been serious complications in the delivery.
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The collector of the Mahabubabad district shared Doctor Mukram’s gallant feat on his Twitter handle. He described this incident as a “heroic story” that “inspires us in these tough moments”. The collector is right. Doctor Mukram does inspire us. He inspires us to shed the complacency when it is in our hands to help out others in need.
The humble doctor believes that it was his duty. Yes, but how many of us would take it upon ourselves to drive through the forests at night because of a phone call? It was not even his regular patient. It was just a pregnant woman in a remote village who was suffering from severe labor pains and could have undergone a complicated delivery. Yet, she didn’t because Doctor Mukram acted more humanely. So, as we face this crisis together, let’s remember to share the load wherever we can. What do you think of this incident? Let us know in the comments below.
