A Mizoram MLA’s gynaecological background helped a pregnant woman in Mizoram survive a critical surgery.
C. Lalhmangaihsangi from Ngur village in Champhai district bordering Myanmar was going through labour pain and bleeding on Monday. To make things worse, the only doctor at the district hospital in Champhai town was on leave due to ill-health.
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“She was lucky that I happened to be in town at the right time. I volunteered to help her deliver through the caesarean section as soon as I heard about her complications,” said Z.R. Thiamsanga, a gynaecologist with 30 years of experience who represents the Champhai North Assembly constituency for the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF).
“The woman and her baby are both fine. But they might not have survived had the woman’s family taken her to [State capital] Aizawl, which is about 10 hours by road,” the MLA said on Tuesday.
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Dr. Thiamsanga, also the vice-chairman of the Health and Family Welfare Board, had served at the Aizawl Civil Hospital, Mizoram’s largest healthcare facility. He took voluntary retirement and contested the 2018 State polls for the MNF.
“An MLA’s duty is to look after the welfare of the people he or she represents. But as a doctor, I do not confine myself within my constituency when people need medical attention,” he said, adding that he keeps a stethoscope and a medical kit wherever he goes “just in case.”
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Among his regular companions is his daughter Dawngzuali, also a doctor.
