Denied ambulance, kin carry pregnant woman on stretcher in Odisha

Rayagada: An incident of a pregnant woman being carried to hospital on a stretcher by her kin in Odisha’s Rayagada district due to unavailability of ambulance has yet again exposed the deteriorated health services in the state.

According to reports, Anku Miniaka (30) of Talasaja village under Kalyansinghpur block in the district complained of labour pain yesterday morning.

Unfortunately, her family members were unable to fetch an ambulance due to unavailability of the same in Kalyansinghpur.

Left with no other options, they carried the woman on their shoulders with a stretcher for 2 km. The plight didn’t end there as the pregnant woman was carried by them across the Nagabali river amid waist-deep water.

After crossing the water body, they found a mobile health vehicle of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram in which the woman was taken to Kalyansinghpur community health centre (CHC) where she delivered a baby girl in the evening.

Condition of the woman and her baby is stated to be stable.

Worth mentioning, there is no pucca road connectivity to the village. Besides, lack of bridge forces the residents of the village to cross the river in such a risky way during monsoon.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Pratap Jena has directed the district collector to probe into the incident and submit a report.