Deepak Prasad Gautam, Birgunj, July 31: A 31-year old woman staying in the isolation for being infected with the novel coronavirus has given birth to a baby girl here at the Gandak Temporary COVID Hospital which is being run under the Narayani Hospital.

Dr. Uday Narayan Singh, coordinator of the COVID Hospital, informed that the health condition of both the baby and the mother was normal.

The woman was admitted to the maternity ward of National Medical College after she felt labour pains on Thursday evening. Doctors from COVID Hospital had brought the woman to the COVID Hospital at midnight after learning that the infected woman had been admitted to the Medical College for delivery.  

The PCR test report of the woman was received late in the evening on Thursday itself. However, the pregnant woman was already taken to the hospital after she felt birthing pains and neither the expectant mother nor her family members knew that she was positive for COVID-19 by that time.

The woman and her family members were informed about her being infected with the virus only after the health professionals from COVID Hospital reached the Medical College to take her to the COVID Hospital.

Nurses for assisting the woman for delivery were brought in from other hospitals as the COVID Hospital lacked competent human resources with midwifery skills.

The woman gave birth to a baby girl at 4:30 Friday morning.

Swab of the new born has been collected to test whether she is infected with virus or not and the sample has been sent to the Narayani Hospital laboratory, according to Dr. Singh.

It is most probably for the first time in Nepal that a pregnant woman has given birth to a baby while staying in the isolation.