Tribal woman dies after giving birth at home

She could not be shifted to hospital due to lack of road connectivity to her village

A tribal woman died, after giving birth to a baby girl, as she could not be shifted to a hospital due to lack of road connectivity to her village at Chintapalli mandal in the Agency area of the district on Monday night.

Divya (27) of Yedurumilli village of Annavaram panchayat, had developed labour pains at around 9 p.m. on Monday. Her family members called the 108 ambulance service but the ambulance staff reportedly ruled out the possibility of coming to the village as there was no road.

The woman gave birth to a healthy baby at her home late in the night. She, however, continued to bleed heavily. The family members decided to admit her to a hospital on Tuesday morning as it was difficult to carry her in a ‘dholi’ to the road point during the night.

The woman died subsequently leaving the family members in grief. The young woman had already given birth to two sons and a daughter in the past and this was her fourth issue.

“Though we advise the pregnant women to get admitted to the hospital, a few days ahead of the probable delivery date, instead of waiting for labour pains, they generally refuse to heed our advice,” say ASHA workers in the tribal areas.

There are 800 to 1,000 habitations of the 3,678 notified villages in the 11 mandals in the Agency area of the district, which do not have road connectivity. District Collector A. Mallikarjuna has recently directed the officials to accord top priority to laying roads in the tribal habitations, based on the population. He said that the various grants, including Central grants, could be pooled for construction of the roads.

ITDA Project Officer R. Gopalakrishna has prepared a profile of the habitations, which do not have road connectivity, based on their population. The final report has been sent to the government, for its approval, MLA K. Bhagyalakshmi told The Hindu , when contacted on Tuesday evening.

When her attention was drawn to the complaints of refusal of tribal women to get admitted early, Ms. Bhagyalakshmi said that a pregnant woman hostel was already available at Araku and one more would be opened at Chintapalli on November 1.