Pregnant woman dies of sunstroke after walking for 7 km in summer heat

A 21yearold pregnant tribal woman has died of sunstroke after walking for seven kilometres from a village to go to a primary health centre PHC and then return home in Maharashtras Palghar district health officials said on MondayThe incident took place on Friday when Sonali Waghat from Osar Veera village in Dahanu taluka walked for 35 km under the scorching sun to reach a highway nearby from where she took an autorickshaw to the Tawa PHC as she was not keeping well Palghar district civil surgeon Dr Sanjay Bodade told PTIThe woman who was in the ninth month of pregnancy was treated at the PHC and sent home She again walked for another 35 km back home from the highway amid the sweltering summer heat he saidLater in the evening she developed health complications and went to the Dhundalwadi PHC from where she was referred to the Kasa subdivisional hospital SDH where she found to be in a semicomorbid condition the official saidDoctors treated her as she was running high temperature and referred her to a speciality hospital at Dhundalwadi in Dahanu for further treatment he saidHowever she died enroute in an ambulance and also lost her foetus the doctor saidAlso Read Man who left Navi Mumbai home 9 years ago traced reunited with familyShe was not in labour pain and doctors at the Kasa PHC had given her immediate attention Since they could not treat her due to her semicomorbid condition they referred her to a speciality hospital he saidAs the woman walked for seven km in the hot weather it aggravated her condition and resulted in the sunstroke and death subsequently the official saidDr Bodade said he visited the PHCs and the SDH and carried out a detailed probe into the incidentPalghar Zilla Parishad president Prakash Nikam who was at the Kasa SDH on Monday morning told PTI that the woman had anaemia and an ASHA accredited social health activist worker had brought her to the SDH The doctors there checked her and gave her medicines but in vain he saidHe said the Kasa SDH does not not have an Intensive Care Unit ICU and specialist doctors to treat such patients in conditions of emergencyHad these facilities been there the tribal womans life could have been saved he saidNikam said he will take up this issue at an appropriate level and ensure such incidents do not recurThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever