G’chiroli collector calls for deliveries at home

Nagpur: Gadchiroli collector Deepak Singla has instructed the district health officials to ensure deliveries at homes, to avoid risking lives of the women undergoing labour pain by trying to attend to them in the open during emergencies. The instruction came a day after TOI reported about 27-year-old Bharti Dorpeti having to deliver under a tree in south Gadchiroli.
Dr Anilkumar Rudy, civil surgeon, said he wanted to revive the proposal of ‘floating ambulances’ for the district, on the lines of Sindhudurg and Nandurbar. “We already have bike ambulances for remote locations, but floating ambulances too can be handy for us, in case there are water bodies to be crossed,” he said.
“A letter has already been sent to the higher authorities, and we will follow up on it,” said the civil surgeon.
Bharti, whose expected date of delivery was August 28, delivered the baby girl on August 12 after she got stuck in the forest as the ambulance, supposed to ferry her to Gatta primary health centre (PHC), was unable to move on a flooded nullah near Gilanguda.
The contractual nurse, Soni Durge of Gatta PHC’s sub-centre, along with Asha worker Savita Alam, was compelled to facilitate the delivery in the forest under a tree amid heavy rains. The flooded nullahs had cut off the villages with the rest of the talukas, with vehicles stranded at different places in the water.
District health officer (DHO) Shashikant Shambarkar said the collector had stated that in emergency cases, the health team should try to reach the homes of the women undergoing labour at remote villages, from where transportation may not be possible.
“Under extraordinary circumstances, our health workers would now try to reach women in labour pain in situations where their travel can be hampered or there are no means. Deliveries in the open would be discouraged,” he said.