Mangaluru : A five-member committee headed by District Health Officer Ramakrishna Rao has been set up to inquire into seven maternal deaths reported in Dakshina Kannada since January. Mr. Rao has been asked to convey to his Udupi counterpart to conduct an inquiry into the death of a woman from Mangaluru at a private hospital in Udupi.

Reviewing cases of maternal deaths in the district on Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim said there seems to be negligence by all hospitals where seven maternal were reported.

“All hospitals seem to have overstepped,” Mr. Ibrahim observed after hearing the family members of deceased women, who were unhappy with the services.

While five maternal deaths have been reported at private hospitals, two have been at government hospitals.

Apart from Dr. Rao, the five-member committee will have District Surgeon H.R. Rajeshwari Devi, Reproductive Child Health Officer M. Rukmini, an obstetrician and an anaesthetist.

The committee has been asked to look into each of these deaths and submit a report in a month.

The copy of the report should be given to family members of the deceased women. “If they [family members] are not happy with the findings, they can air their views in a meeting,” Mr. Ibrahim said.

Family members of the deceased women complained against the conduct of doctors and nurses.

The brother of Ameena (33), who died on May 28, held doctors and nurses of a hospital in Surathakal responsible for his sister’s death, a few hours after delivering a child. He accused the hospital of delaying caesarean section and shifting his sister when the condition started turning worse.

He accused the hospital of sending an untrained nurse with his sister in an ambulance to another hospital in Kuntikana, where she died soon. .

The sister-in-law of Varsha (23), from Managluru, held doctors of a private hospital in Udupi responsible for her death on April 24. Dr. Rukmini said the complications started at the labour table at the private hospital where the doctors failed to identify a cervical tear following the delivery of the child.

She died one week after the private hospital shifted her to another private hospital in Manipal, Dr. Rukmini said.

Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim has directed District Health Officer Ramakrishna Rao to submit a separate report about skilled and unskilled staff in hospitals in the district. Mr. Ibrahim said this after hearing allegations by the brother of Ameena (23), who died allegedly after her delivery.

Mr. Ibrahim said the report should mention about how qualified the paramedical staff employed in different hospitals are. The report should also mention the protocol that was being followed by each hospital, while dealing with cases of emergency. Mr. Ibrahim said the five-member committee headed by Dr. Rao will inquire into all maternal deaths within 15 days from the date the death is reported. The committee has to place their findings before the meeting to review the cases of maternal deaths, he said.