A 26-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to the Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) at Telungupalayam with labour pain on Thursday died in the early hours of Friday (October 9).
The deceased, Shanthi, was expecting her second child. She had returned from Madurai 10 days ago and was staying at her mother’s house in Coimbatore. She had delivered her first child at CMCH five years ago.
Shanthi had undergone a check-up at the health centre on October 5. Her expected date of delivery was October 21, said Vidya, the doctor associated with the facility.
According to Dr. Vidya, Shanthi came to the health centre around 10.30 a.m. on Thursday after experiencing pain and stayed there for observation. She said Shanthi was not in active labour, cervical dilatation had not progressed sufficiently and her waters had not broken. As both the mother and the baby were in good condition and the expected date of delivery was October 21, labour was not induced, she said.
At around 1 a.m. on Friday, Shanthi reportedly developed labour pains, vomited and lost consciousness. A staff nurse called an ambulance to take her to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where she was declared dead on arrival. The foetus also did not survive.
City Health Officer V.C. Subash Gandhi said a preliminary inquiry had raised the possibility of amniotic fluid embolism, a rare obstetric emergency that can cause sudden breathing difficulty.
He said the post-mortem examination was under way and further procedures would be carried out to establish the cause of death. Dr. Gandhi said the doctor’s regular duty hours were from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., after which the doctor attended to emergencies on call.
Shanthi’s family alleged that the doctor’s absence delayed medical attention when her condition deteriorated.
Published – October 09, 2026 08:01 pm IST
