(Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, Sri Lanka Telecom Chairman P.G. Kumarasinghe Sirisena, PSSL President Nishan and Dr. Kapila Jayaratne during the launch of the hotline)
A hotline (3636) was launched recently to save the lives of mothers in labour who are suffering in critical conditions with various complications and their infants.
The hotline is open 24 hours for all junior consultants, the doctors from peripheral hospitals and the consultant community physicians, the former President of the Perinatal Society of Sri Lanka (PSSL) Dr. Kapila Jayaratne said.
Jayaratne said that the hotline is a voice operating system that directs the doctors to obtain relevant service.
The hotline offers expertise medical advice from a team of expert consultants for the junior consultants and doctors from peripheral hospitals to manage obstetric, neonatology or public health emergency patient or situations.
In addition to these the hotline undertakes to transfer patients to other hospitals.
Dr. Jayaratne said that if the doctors use Mobitel connections, they can simply dial 3636 and if they use other service providers' connections, they can dial 0710363636.
This service is available countrywide including in Colombo. Therefore any doctor who is handling a mother in labour who is in a critical condition can obtain either advice or the opportunity to transfer the patient to a hospital where specialized / expertise care is available.
There are several near misses and deaths among pregnant mothers and children due to the lack of senior support, inadequate facilities or without transfer options.
The service will save many lives of mothers and infants. It will cut down the maternal death rate of the country, he added.