MP: After Floods Block Pathways, Pregnant Woman Delivers Baby On Road

A video surfaced online where a woman gave birth on the roadside as she was carried in a cloth due to floods and damaged roads hindering ambulance from providing aid in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district.

Both the mother and the newborn baby are safe and are treated in a hospital while the family blamed the government for the apathy, and negligence towards the villagers. 

What Happened?

In yet another news of poor commute and healthcare services in the rural regions of the country, a 27-year-old pregnant woman gave birth on the roadside as the ambulance couldn't reach her damaged roads and overflowing drain hindering the path of the ambulance. 

The incident took place in Khamghat village, Pansemal tehsil of Barwani district in MP on Saturday evening where a woman suffered labour pain. In a video shared by news agency ANI, the woman is seen wrapped in a cloth transported by four men carrying her through wood sticks on the shoulder as the drain was overflowing flooding the damaged roads which was the only route to reach healthcare. 

The family members carrying the woman tried taking her to the hospital but before they could take her to the ambulance the woman gave birth on the roadside. After walking around three to four kilometres, the family members got to the ambulance around 6 p.m. and managed to take the woman and her newborn baby to the community healthcare centre in tehsil Pansemal. 

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh: A pregnant woman in Barwani was wrapped in a cloth and carried across an overflowing drain to the hospital. (24.09) pic.twitter.com/8LcH6Y2TSi

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) September 25, 2023

A doctor in the Community Health Centre of Pansemal, Amrit Banake said that they only provided the woman with primary treatment and cut her placenta as she had already given birth and referred her to Banwari district hospital. 

Both the mother and child are in good condition and are treated in the Banwari district hospital. 

Meanwhile, the brother of the woman named Thakur, raised some serious concerns about the roads as they are the only means of commute for the villagers and said that they have placed demands multiple times to repair the roads but no one has paid attention to their demands. 

Thakur also alleged that it was not the first time such an incident had taken place in their village highlighting that around two to three women of their family had also delivered babies on the roadsides in similar situations in past. 

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