Led by the District Collector, doctors and panchayat members are convincing families to send pregnant mothers to hospitals during the floods for safety.
Published Dec 19, 2023 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 19, 2023 | 1:08 PM
Tirunelveli District Collector.
Officials, who are grappling with various challenges due to the Tirunelveli floods, have an important task at hand: ensuring the safety of 696 pregnant women who are expecting to deliver their babies in the next 30 days.
Led by the District Collector and a team of officials, doctors and panchayat members are doing their best to convince these families to send the pregnant mothers to hospital facilities nearby to ensure their safety.
In a conversation with South First, the Thirunelveli Collector Dr KP Karthikeyan said that the officials had preemptively identified and cataloged these women through the PICME (Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation) app.
“Thanks to this database, we know who these women are and where they reside. Using this database, we made a list with two categories — one was pregnant mothers and the other was the vulnerable population residing in old-age homes, different homes, mental health homes, and children’s homes,” Dr Karthikeyan explained.
A dedicated team of officials was assigned specifically for the pregnant mothers. Their task was to maintain constant communication with the mothers through the respective primary health centres, under the vigilant oversight of the district health officer.
திருநெல்வேலி மாவட்டத்தில் அடுத்த 30 நாட்களில் மகப்பேறு தேதி உள்ள 696 கர்ப்பிணிகளை தொடர்பு கொண்டு மருத்துவமனையில் சேர்க்க 17.12.2023 காலை முதல் அறிவுறுத்தப்பட்டு 6pm வரை அடுத்த 7 நாட்களில் மகப்பேறு தேதி உள்ள 24 தாய்மார்கள் முன்னெச்சரிக்கையாக மருத்துவமனையில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்
— District Collector, Tirunelveli (@Collectortnv) December 17, 2023
The officials, however, did not expect this level of flooding to occur. When the rains and the subsequent flooding began in the district, the officials swiftly went into action and made a list of all the women whose estimated due date was within the next week.
The village panchayats were also used for the process to reach out to the women and their families. They were called from the primary health centres and the district maternal and child health officer was in charge.
“There were medical officers dedicated for this. We did not expect the rain to be so severe, but we managed to move nearly 25-30 women who had their EDDs this week,” Dr Karthikeyan explained.
“The others who have their EDDs this month are slowly coming to the health facilities. This is precautionary as they require care and attention and it is a protocol during flood situations,” he added.
One of the most significant hurdles was convincing the mothers to leave their homes, amidst fears of the unknown and concerns about food and safety.
However, this is a routine instruction that is followed during any flood, cyclone, disaster, etc, in order to keep track of pregnant mothers using their expected due date.
“It is definitely challenging to convince families. It is difficult and our officers try their best to convince families. But we do manage to convince most of them,” said TS Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health, to South First.
Agreeing with this, Dr Karthikeyan said that people don’t think that this could be a big disaster. They feel they can “manage” and take care of the situation. They are also afraid of whether they will be safe or have enough food at the hospital.
“But through our officers’ persistent and compassionate communication, the team has been successful in assuring the safety and well-being of their families.
Once at the hospitals, they are provided care and other facilities, and the family member accompanying them is also taken care of.
“The hospitals, fortunately, have remained safe from the floods, allowing uninterrupted care. There was some seepages but that’s been taken care of,” added Dr Karthikeyan.
