Despite a large number of inaccessible villages, institutional delivery has shown praiseworthy rise in Odisha’s Kandhamal district due to use of bike ambulances, delivery vans and ‘Janani’ autorickshaws.
According to an assessment of the percentage of institutional deliveries against estimated pregnancies during the period from April to July this year, Kandhamal district has topped among 30 districts in Odisha.
According to Ashis Kumar Mohanty, Deputy Manager in-charge of reproductive and child health at the National Health Mission in Kandhamal, during these four months, as against the target off 4,887 institutional deliveries, 5,055 institutional deliveries were registered, raising the percentage in the district to 103%.
This is the highest rate of institutional delivery in the State, and higher than the State average of 76% for institutional delivery during the period.
At-home deliveries by expectant mothers is on the decline in the district, although it has around 810 inaccessible villages that can only be reached by foot.
This could be achieved because of efforts of grassroots-level medical officers, paramedics, Asha volunteers and other health officials, said Kandhamal’s Chief District Medical Officer, Dr. Nrusingha Behera.
Apart from regular monitoring and awareness measures, infrastructure additions have helped the rise in institutional deliveries. To transport expectant mothers from inaccessible areas, five bike ambulances, 14 ‘Janani’ autorickshaws and an institutional delivery van are being used in remote areas of the district.
