Never mind the government schemes that are introduced with the sole aim of bringing pregnant women to hospitals, quite a few women in Ranga Reddy district are still forced to face the risk of home delivery.
The district has registered 469 home deliveries in the quarter that has ended with July, prompting district Collector V. Seshadri to reprimand health officials concerned in a recent review meeting. He expressed annoyance at the state of affairs in the district that shares not only borders, but also infrastructure and transport facilities with the State capital.
The number is the cause for obvious concern as it shows a rise in home deliveries as part of the total. While the percentage has shown a clear downward trend over the past five years, the quarterly figures this year have negated it by clocking a percentage growth.
Especially bad is the situation in certain backward clusters such as Tandur, Marpally, and Vikarabad, the first two recording over 90 home deliveries, and the latter, 50 in the four months.
While the situation in urban centres is not as worrisome, a few Primary Health Centres here too present a bad picture. The PHC at Serilingampally has recorded 15 home deliveries, while Jawaharnagar and Shamirpet recorded 14 and 11 respectively.
Hayatnagar as a cluster has recorded a total of 19 home deliveries, with Abdullapurmet PHC itself accounting for 13 among them. Shamshabad and Ibrahimpatnam, which are well connected with the city, have recorded 49 and 37 home deliveries respectively.
Another cause for concern is the maternal mortality figures which show considerable rise when compared with the previous year. While maternal deaths in the entire previous year stand at 27, those recorded between April and July this year are 14.
The government provides cash assistance to pregnant women who avail institutional delivery mechanism, while delivery and even caesarean procedures are free of cost in public health institutions under the Janani Shishu Suraksha programme. Further, pregnant women are entitled for free transport from home to hospital, and back.
“Delivery takes longer for first-time pregnancies, but not more than one or two hours for subsequent ones, not leaving much gap before 108 vehicle arrives. Unwillingness of family members owing to long distances they are forced to travel, is the second factor,” he said.
