Maharashtra tribal woman carried on makeshift stretcher to give birth for lack of proper road, loses twins

In a tragic incident, a 26-year-old pregnant tribal woman was carried on a makeshift stretcher due to lack of a proper road in a village in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, and lost her twin infants at birth as a result of the delay in reaching a medical centre.

The incident took place on Monday, when the woman, who as seven months pregnant, went into labour prematurely and was carried 3 km to the main road from Markatwadi village in Mokhada taluka amid heavy rains, a doctor said on Tuesday.

The woman was later brought to the Khodala PHC in an ambulance from the main road. She delivered twins, who died at birth, Dr Pushpa Mathure of the medical facility said.

If there had been a proper road, the woman could have received medical attention sooner and the babies could have been saved, she said, adding that the woman’s health is stable.

Patients are often brought to the main road in makeshift stretchers made of a saree or cloth tied to a long bamboo stick from remote villages, where ambulances cannot reach due to lack of proper roads, it was stated.

“We usually shift women who are in the eighth or ninth month of pregnancy from remote villages to the PHC for delivery,” the doctor said.

In light of several instances of patients being transported in makeshift stretchers in the absence of roads, district collector Govind Bodke had last week visited the area and directed the concerned officials to begin road construction.

In June this year, a tribal woman in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma lost her newborn when an ambulance driver left her stranded soon after she delivered her infant and was referred to the district hospital.

The bereaved woman, Gangi, then sat with her dead newborn and husband Karma for hours for another ambulance to arrive and take them back to their village, Kankerlanka, over 50km from Sukma, as reported by the Indian Express.

(With PTI inputs)

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