For 24-year-old Nusrat Begum, a third caesarean delivery took her within touching distance of death and back to life, even as five other women, including her namesake, succumbed in similar situations at Niloufer Hospital earlier this month.
Nusrat is among the two women who survived episodes of bleeding following surgery that killed Nusrat Begum, Busrat Begum, Farha Fatima and two others identified only by their first names as Anusha and Reena. Emergency life saving hysterectomies on at least two women and copious infusions of blood clotting factors did not save them.
According to Nusrat’s husband Mohammed Khaja Pasha, his wife’s ordeal began at around 8 p.m. on February 1, the day she was underwent C-section to deliver a healthy baby. His sister-in-law, who was with Nusrat in the evening, called the family to say the hospital was asking for blood.
“I rushed to Niloufer after I learnt my wife was bleeding. The hospital had asked me to procure blood. After providing five units, I was asked to get more. I went out to purchase 10 more units,” he said.
As efforts were being made to stop Nusrat’s bleeding and address breathlessness, the hospital asked the family to move her to Osmania General Hospital. At around 3.30 a.m. she was sent in an ambulance to OGH where she remained for about five days before being discharged.
Doctors at Niloufer, pondering over the deaths believe Nusrat and another patient survived as their condition was less severe and may have been addressed before the bleeding worsened. The women who died too were moved to OGH but they later succumbed. An ongoing inquiry has factored in the survival of the other patient to understand what may have caused the fatal bleeding in the women who succumbed.
“Upon arrival at OGH, doctors said her condition had improved and she did not need infusions,” Pasha said adding that his wife was diagnosed with mild heart valve impairment at OGH, but she has now recovered from the ordeal.
