TN woman passes away after delivery at home; YouTube videos used by husband as guide

V Loganayaki, 27, passed away on August 22 in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu following a disastrous home delivery. Not long after her death became known, the Revenue Department Officer ordered an investigation. The pair, post-graduates in agriculture, had watched YouTube training videos to learn how to give birth at home. The infant child was returned to Loganayaki's mother's house after first being admitted to a private hospital.

Loganayaki's birth went horribly wrong, and she began to bleed excessively. She was taken to a nearby private hospital after losing consciousness, but the police claim that she could not be revived. The family told the media that Loganayaki and her husband Madhesh chose home delivery since they were staunch supporters of maintaining a natural lifestyle.

Loganayaki's mother lived in the adjoining Krishnagiri district, she and Madhesh travelled there ten days prior to the delivery, even though they both lived in Dharmapuri. The pair told the Primary Health Centre (PHC) local government nurse that they were heading to a private hospital and stopped consulting with them while in Dharmapuri. However it appears Loganayaki had also given up on supplements, and her husband had instructed her to use only natural medications.

There were issues since Madhesh was unable to cut Loganayaki's umbilical cord during the delivery. Loganayaki was taken to a private hospital after experiencing severe bleeding, where she was declared dead. The body was returned home to the family, who then cremated it. A health professional told the police that this was an attempted home delivery gone bad, and they opened a case.

In accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure section 174(3), the Pochampalli police filed a complaint. Her death is being investigated by Krishnagiri Revenue Divisional Officer Babu in the meantime. “If the RDO inquiry suggests so, the husband will be arrested in this case”, a Pochampalli police source has said.

That being said, there have been more cases of this kind in Tamil Nadu. Krithiga, a 28-year-old mother, is believed to have tried to give birth at her Tiruppur home in 2018, however, she passed away from pregnancy-related difficulties. The couple declined to go to the hospital for the delivery because they did not trust modern medicine. They also decided to give birth at home after seeing related YouTube videos.