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Video Editor: Deepthi Ramdas
Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya
(This video is part of our series – Her Pandemic Diary. This was first published on 5 March 2021 and has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark one year of lockdown. Watch more here.)
It’s no mean feat – treating more than 200 COVID-positive women and delivering over 60 babies of infected women. But Dr Shehla Jamal managed to succeed, despite the many hiccups along the way.
A 38-year-old gynaecologist at the Rajshree Medical Research Institute in Bareilly, Dr Jamal is a mother as well. And the last one year has been anything but easy.
She has been, single-handedly, looking after her kids and home, and managing work during the pandemic. Her husband is a doctor in the Indian Army, and just like Shehla, he is serving the nation, away from home.
The unpreparedness for the disease left every healthcare worker across the globe in an unimaginably difficult situation.
Shehla was working at a hospital in NCR and was shifted to the COVID ward after the cases started pouring in. She recalls how every minute was a challenge.
Be it discussing the steps to be taken, keeping up with the frequently changing guidelines issued by the Indian government, the WHO or their own hospital – concerns kept mounting.
Speaking about the ‘fear of touch,’ Shehla recalls the night that really scared her – when she performed her first c-section on a COVID positive woman. That same night, Shehla operated on two other infected women.
Returning home that night, Shehla was scared for her life and couldn’t stop crying. Seeing their mother in this state, her 10-year-old son Aaris and 12-year-old daughter Zoha also got worried and wanted to hug her.
‘It was emotionally draining’ is how Shehla describes the initial lockdown phase. From facing added stress at work, the desire to serve the nation in time of need, days of quarantine, speaking to kids via video call even at home to keep them away, sleepless nights to un-ending house chores, there was no end to the work and worries for Shehla.
In June 2020, Shehla made a tough, risky decision to move from Noida to Bareilly when the pandemic was at its peak.
Shehla is proud of her decision, as she feels satisfied with the work she has been able to do since shifting to Bareilly. She feels happy about fulfilling her desire, to give back to society.
Shehla says that she is happy since she stopped feeling guilty for thinking about herself. Being a healthcare worker, she says, it is vital that she takes care of her mental and physical health to be able to help others.
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