MALKANGIRI:‘Safe motherhood’ still remains a far-fetched concept in remote pockets of the State where even ambulance services are not provided to pregnant women. A day after a tribal woman delivered her baby on the road in Koraput district on Wednesday, another tribal pregnant woman died as the 102 and 108 ambulances did not arrive to take her to the nearest health centre for institutional delivery on Thursday.
The woman, Salbeng Dule of Koikonda village, felt labour pain on Wednesday night. ASHA worker of the village D Devi Reddy and Salbeng’s family members called up both the 102 and 108 ambulance services to take her for delivery at MV-79 Hospital, but the calls went unanswered. The hospital is located 20 km from the village.
As the labour pain increased, Salbeng’s family members hired a jeep and took her to the hospital. On arriving at the hospital, the doctors referred her to Malkangiri District Headquarters Hospital, which is 80 km from MV-79 Hospital.
The ASHA worker again called up the 102 ambulance service but no one responded. She then called up the 108 ambulance but by the time the ambulance arrived, the woman’s condition had turned critical. Salbeng died at NV-7 village while being shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital.
Chief District Medical Officer Uday Shankar Mishra said both the ambulance services have their control rooms in Bhubaneswar and he has no control over the vehicles. Of the eight 102 ambulances in the district, two have been stationed at the District Headquarters Hospital and six are spread across the district. Mishra said he will inquire into the matter.
On Wednesday, Situmai Sawnta of Gajiaguda village of Tunkhal panchayat in Koraput district delivered her baby on the road as 102 and 108 ambulance services did not respond to the calls made by her family members. As the pain increased, the pregnant woman decided to walk down to a Community Health Centre, 7 km from the village, with the help of women members of her family.
However, she could not walk for long and delivered the baby midway on a muddy road. Some locals informed the CHC authorities, who sent a four-wheeler to the spot in which Situmai and her baby were shifted to the health centre.