Tribal woman delivers under a tree in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra

The delivery could happen with the help of an accredited social health activist (ASHA) worker.

A 27-year-old tribal woman in labour was forced to deliver her baby amid rains under a tree in the forest of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli with the help of an accredited social health activist (ASHA) worker last week. The woman was on her way to the hospital.

The tribal woman, Bharati crossing the nullah, along with ASHA workers after delivery.

According to reports, Bharti Dorpeti (27), a Madia tribal from village Zarewada of Etapalli taluka, was nine-month pregnant. An ASHA worker from the village intimated Gatta Primary Health Centre, located some 10 kilometres from her village. The Primary Health Centres (PHC) officials including a contractual health worker Soni Durge, ASHA helper Savita Alam and a driver took an ambulance and left for Zarewada to bring the pregnant woman.

However, their vehicle could not reach the village due to incessant rains and a flooded Gilanguda nullah. A truck was already stuck there due to floods. Meanwhile, relatives of Bharti had already left for the hospital carrying the woman on a cot as there was no mode of transport available at that time. They somehow reached up to the nullah. Soni and Savita were waiting on the other side of the nullah. As it was impossible for them to drive the ambulance to the other side, the women health employees somehow crossed the nullah and reached the place.

Durge saved Bharti by providing timely medical help there. Soni and her team protected her from the rains with someone holding an umbrella. Bharti soon gave birth to a baby girl. Both the baby and the mother were then taken to the hospital wading through the flooded nullah. The mother and her baby are reported safe. The delivery could be done safely and lives of both the baby and the mother were saved due to the timely decision of the ASHA worker, reports said.

Durge, who had been working in the remote and highly sensitive Maoist-affected area for the last six years, said, tribal women avoid visiting the PHC until they experience labour pains. Bharati had experienced labour pains on August 12 and informed Savita, the village ASHA worker, who in turn, sent her husband on his bike to alert Soni.

“As it was raining heavily and the entire locality was flooded, I set off immediately with my delivery kit and emergency medicine and left the village in an ambulance,” Soni said.

This is not the only story of sufferings and difficulties faced by the tribals in these remote villages. Many such incidents have taken place in the area in the past too. Few days ago, a pregnant woman from Turemarka village in Bhamragarh taluka had to walk for more than 23 kilometres to Laheri hospital for her delivery as no vehicle could reach her house. Another woman from Gundenur village in Bhamragarh taluka in south Gadchiroli died for the want of timely medical treatment before she could be taken to the hospital on a cot by her relatives.

The community health worker scheme of ASHA was instituted by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led government as part of the National Rural Health Mission. One of the key components of the National Rural Health Mission is to provide every village in the country with a trained woman community health worker.

Selected from the village itself and accountable to it, the ASHA workers are trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. The district of Gadchiroli lacks proper healthcare and the ASHA scheme has brought a ray of hope for the tribals, particularly women and children. The unusual story of Bharati’s delivery is one such example of the success story of ASHA.

Meanwhile, flood situation in Gadchiroli district continued to remain grim as heavy rains lashed many parts of the district, particularly south Gadchiroli.