Probe under way into death of mother and twins

An investigation is under way into the sudden death of a 20-year-old woman with her unborn twins on Maafushi island early Saturday morning.

Rashfa Ahmed from the southern Fuvahmulah island, who lived with her husband in Maafushi, was in the eighth month of her pregnancy.

She was suffering from coughing fits the night before her death, according to media reports.

“She had a fever but it was milder the past two days. Her family said she even consulted a doctor because of the coughs. But she was unable to sleep that night,” a source was quoted as saying by newspaper Mihaaru.

“Then she vomited at around 12 or 1am. She was getting changed to have some food at dawn when she began to lose consciousness. So her husband held her.”

The Maafushi health centre and the health ministry declined to provide details. But a health ministry media official confirmed that a probe was ongoing.

The young woman was buried in Maafushi on Saturday evening.

Sudden maternal deaths have been increasingly rare in the Maldives due to progress in the health sector.

According to the UNFPA, the country has seen a “stunning 90 percent plunge” in maternal death rate over the last 25 years which is “the largest such drop in the world over this time period.”

But in a similar incident last year, a 21-year-old pregnant woman abruptly died in Shaviyani atoll Milandhoo island.