A pregnant woman of Bagbeda village under Jharigam block delivered a child on road on Saturday morning while she was carried to hospital on a cot by her kin as the ambulance couldn’t arrive at the village due to lack of road communication.
According to reports, Hunda Santa, wife of lacchara Santa of Bagbeda, developed labour pain late Friday night. Though the family members called an ambulance, the vehicle could not reach the village owing to heavy rain and muddy road.
Hunda and his family members had no other choice except to carry Hunda on a cot. Early on Saturday, Hunda’s family members with the help of some villagers carried her in a cot for nearly two km near a chhak where they found ambulance to take her to hospital.
However, she delivered a baby boy mid-way; later Hunda and her baby were shifted to Jharigam hospital in an ambulance. The condition of both mother and newborn baby is reportedly stable.
In yet another shocking incident of ambulance failure, a pregnant woman was carried on a motorcycle from a remote village in Jharigam block to the hospital after ambulance failed to reach the village due to non-motorable road on Friday.
The incident took place at Puralubhata village under Jharigam block, after woman Sanai Santa, wife of Kaliamani Santa, suffered labour pain and her family called Asha of their village and she contacted 102 ambulance service. However, the driver expressed his inability to reach the village due to poor road connectivity. The condition of the road is so bad that even an auto rickshaw cannot reach the village.
With no options left, the family members carried the woman on a bike for about two km to reach the 102 ambulance at Dhmuma Chhak where they found an ambulance to take her to hospital. She delivered a baby girl at the Jharigam hospital. Condition of the newborn and the mother was stated to be stable.
Years ago, locals in both the villages used to commute on a rut track amid farmland. The incident has sparked resentment among the villagers, who are blaming the district administration for not taking any step to construct pucca road into the villages.
It is not an isolated case, a number of such cases have been reported in the tribal dominated Nabarangpur district in the recent past when pregnant women had to be carried in a bicycle or a cot to the nearest health centres due to ambulance failure for various reasons. This is the fifth such incident in the district in last one month.
In another incident, Mina Singh, an expectant mother, delivered a baby girl while she was being carried on a cot from Pokharisahi village in Baleswar district to the nearby Remuna hospital after ambulance failed to reach the village due to poor road conditions.
Mina experienced labour pain in the morning following which her family members informed 102 ambulances but it failed to turn up due to non-motorable road in the area.
later, Mina delivered another girl while she was being shifted to Remuna Community Health Centre (CHC) in the ambulance. Surprisingly, Pokharisahi village is located on the outskirts of Baleswar town.