Facebook was never used for a better purpose than this!
In a scene reminiscent of the Bollywood blockbuster Three Idiots, the popular social networking site was instrumental in helping a woman in a remote
village in Assam play midwife to her neighbour, so that the latter could deliver a baby without medical help.
The healthy baby boy was named Facebook Teron — to express gratitude to the social networking site.
It all began when Ramani Engtipi, who was pregnant with her third child, went into labour.
Unfortunately for the young couple, no medical staff or mid-wife was available at the nearest Community Health Centre in lakhan Bay, a remote village in Karbi Anglong district, located nearly 400 km away from Assam’s Capital city Guwahati.
Unable to find anyone qualified enough to help deliver the baby, Engtipi Ramani’s husband Harsing Teron turned to Hmahruaii Chakchuak, a Christian Missionary worker attached to the nearest church, for help.
Even though Hmahruaii Chakchuak came to Ramani’s aid, she could not do much as she had no medical knowledge and did not have any experience in delivering babies.
In desperation, Hmahruaii Chakchuak turned to her Facebook friend group called Chhangchheness for advice on how to deliver a baby.
After a long struggle with the tips that she got from her doctor and nurse friends on Facebook, she managed to help deliver the baby boy. In a poignant tribute to the social networking site that helped their third child come into this world safely, the elated couple immediately decided to name the child Facebook Teron.
Recalling the incident, Hmahruaii Chakchuak, a native of Mizoram said: “It was quite a scary and tough situation to handle as I have no medical knowledge on how to bring a child into this world. It was made specially challenging by the fact that Ramani speaks Karbi, which I do not understand properly.
“I was at my wits end when I had a brainwave. I sent an SOS to my friends on Facebook, describing the situation. And thank God that so many people responded and gave such helpful tips. I could not have done it without their help.”
“I shall always remain thankful to God and to Hmahruaii Chakchuak for the way she helped us. On that fateful day there was no help available as there was no doctor or any other staff available at the nearest Community Health Centre.
“It was not possible to shift my wife to any other hospital in such a condition. I shudder to think what would have happened to my wife and the baby if Hmahruaii Chakchuak and her Facebook friends had not come to our aid,” said an emotional Harsing.
One of the two hill districts of Assam, Karbi Anglong lacks basic amenities in many aspects. There are many places in the district which are yet to be covered by Central Government schemes like the National Rural Health Mission or the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan mission.