Dying in childbirth

How charmingly feudal. Children named by employers. Gratitude and everything else in copious measures.

Errr.. how are the two issues related? Rich people/foreigners pay for the medical care they receive and it is not at the expense of the poor women.

Lekhni,

India provides first-class healthcare for those who can afford to pay for it, whether foreigners or Indians. Just like everywhere else. Of course, very few in India can afford it, which is not like the situation in some developed countries. But this is a whole other issue.

It is not clear from her post (and she hasn’t claimed it) that it was due to “sheer neglect”. I wish you hadn’t asserted this (well, unless you have taken it further and found something).

Neglect would imply that the situation could have been averted by the doctor. From what I can read in MM’s post and comments (and MM’s replies), that doesn’t seem to be the case prima facie.

PS: “Gender” category?

Vivek,

I was commenting on the vast gulf that exists between the haves and have-nots. (and on how we choose to use our healthcare resources). I agree that rich Indians can also get excellent healthcare in India.

On the neglect – women in late stage labor are supposed to be under constant monitoring by nurses (if not doctors). Unlike internal haemorrhage, external bleeding can be easily detected, I assume? If, that is, someone was watching?

Vivek,

I will leave it to MM to clarify what she meant. What I took away was that she thinks the situation could have been averted by the doctor. (Which you would define as neglect, right?)

Lekhni,

Considering how resource-constrained our rural healthcare system is, it would be rather presumptuous of us to assume that the doctor could have averted this situation and chose not to.

For all we know, there were a 100 other patients and 10 other operations requiring his immediate attention. For such doctors, it boils down to making snap decisions about which life to attempt to save: the woman in labour who is critically low on haemoglobin and without access to a blood bank, or (say), another woman who has a better chance of survival if she receives immediate care. I have doctor friends who gave up medical profession because they burned out making such decisions every hour every day.

I am not saying that’s how it was in this case. It could have been neglect as well. The doctor could have been drunk (won’t be the first time in India) as well. I am saying that we don’t know. All we know is that a death happened, and what the condition of our rural healthcare is. Putting the two together, it is not fair to allege “sheer neglect” when such incidents happen daily simply for want of better infrastructure and resources.

I’m foreign, and tried to get an eye exam in Delhi at an old reputable eye doctor (name provided on request). I paid 700Rs and they didn’t even give me an exam…just tried to sell me an expensive laser operation. Being “rich” or foreign (def. not the same thing) doesn’t guarantee good health care…only that you will be seen as a golden wallet. In fact I think I got worse treatment for being foreign.

It later transpired that I had a severe corneal infection. The Delhi doctor pocketed my rupees without giving me the proper exam. She was too excited at the prospect of a Lasik sale to bother treating me.

The incident is a sad one, and my sympathies to the grieving. But in the midst of all of that, she chooses to draw our attention to

“I couldn’t dance all evening and even people complimenting weight loss, hair cut, tattoo and the sexy dress got only a watery smile in response.”

I found that so displaced.