Bhairahawa – Lumbini Province has recorded highest maternal mortality rate among the seven provinces across the nation. Over the past several years, the province has been seeing increasing number of maternal deaths.
Over the past five years, 324 women have lost their lives during childbirth in the province.
According to the provincial health ministry, 324 women have died since the fiscal year 2074/75 BS, when a total of 53 women lost their lives during childbirth. According to the ministry, this number reached 54 in the fiscal year 2075/76 BS, 71 in 2076/077 BS, 72 in 2077/078 BS and 74 in 2078/079.
According to Sunita Gyawali, Nursing Officer of the Ministry of Health of the province, 23 per cent of the women die due to excessive bleeding before or after delivery. She said that such deaths can be prevented by taking proper health care during pregnancy.
Out of 109 municipalities of the province, only 13 have reduced the rate of child delivery at home to zero. Many new mothers lost their lives because they were not undergoing regular pregnancy tests and had given birth at home without the supervision of health professionals.
Many of such deaths were attributed to the lack of necessary equipment and skilled personnel at health institutions as well as lack of pre-preparation. Most died even after reaching health institution on time because they could not get special care in absence of specialist doctors.
Some lost their lives due to carelessness of doctors. In an effort to provide safe motherhood services, 406 birthing centers have been set up across the province.
There are 22 hospitals providing free services including surgery in case of complications during pregnancy. Hospitals, including Lumbini, Bheri and Rapti, have specialist services.
A total of 84 nurses are currently working in the province, providing a host of facilities like ultrasound services. According to the National Census 2078 BS, there were 151 deaths per 100,000 in the country, and Lumbini with 207 ranked top among the seven provinces.
Through the President’s Women Upliftment Programme, the government has been providing free airlifting services to pregnant or post-partum women in critical health condition. Under the programme, such women are airlifted to specialised hospitals from the remote areas.
Some districts of the province including Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan, Arghakhanchi, Palpa and Gulmi have been selected under the programme.
Kaushalraj Bhandari, a focal person of the health directorate, said that due to the lack of agreement with the hospital, it was not possible to rescue high-risk births by providing free helicopter services.
“There are neither obstetricians nor nursing staff on par with the number of posts in the health institutions and due to the poor physical infrastructure, women are not getting delivery services easily,” said Bhandari.” This has added to the challenge of reducing maternal deaths, he added.
The Lumbini province government has sent Rs. 60,000 to every municipality and Rs.200,000 to district level hospitals to arrange free ambulance services for pregnant women. Dr. Vinodraj Giri, acting Health Secretary, said that the maternal mortality rate would not be reduced unless the number of those giving birth at home or those who are confused about the treatment services was reduced. BY LAXMAN POUDEL TRN