Pregnant woman carried on cot across river gives birth to stillborn baby in MP
This was third such incident in MP within a week, exposing poor road infrastructure. in earlier two similar incidents in Barwani, villagers had to carry pregnant women in slings made up of clothes for eight kms to reach the approaching road.
A pregnant woman, who had to be carried on a cot across a swollen seasonal river to reach a health centre about four kilometres from her home in Chikalbhata village in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, gave birth to a stillborn baby on Monday night, the woman’s father said.
The woman’s father said the delay in taking her daughter to a hospital led to the loss of her baby. (Shutterstock)
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In the absence of an access road and a bridge over the Bhadkada river, the 20-year-old pregnant woman, Pinky was carried on a cot by villagers as they waded through the river that had swollen due to monsoon rains.
“We carried Pinky on a cot as an ambulance refused to come to the village. We took Pinky in labour pain to a nearby Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Tekadhana where they didn’t find a doctor to attend to her. Later, an Asha worker made arrangements for a Janani Express (a specialised ambulance for handling pregnant women) to take her to a hospital in Junnardeo, about 12-14 kilometers away. Due to the delay in delivery, my daughter gave birth to a stillborn baby,” said Amarlal, father of the woman.
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Another villager Shyam Kumar said such hardships were common for the villagers.
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Another villager Shyam Kumar said such hardships were common for the villagers.
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“This is not the first such incident in our village; students didn’t go to school in the rainy season as our village is surrounded by rivers from two sides. In the absence of a bridge, we wait for months for the level of the water in the river to decrease. We have many times requested the district administration and politicians but no one took interest in resolving our problem.”
District collector Saurabh Kumar Suman said, “We are probing the matter as the project of construction of the connecting bridge has been approved a long time ago.”
This was the third such incident in MP within a week, exposing poor road infrastructure. Earlier, in two similar incidents in Barwani, villagers had to carry pregnant women in slings made up of clothes for eight kms to reach the approaching road.
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.
