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Kamala
Jadhav's smile is radiant as she proudly holds her twin
baby girls. Already a mother of three, Kamala had given
birth to her twins at home, even though that placed both
her and the infants at higher risk for life-threatening
complications. Having gone into labor late at night, transportation
to the medical facility she was scheduled to go to became
a problem. "This shows how much more work we need
to do," says Dr. Surekha Patel, physician in charge
of Prasad Chikitsa Community Development, which includes
the Maternal Child Health Program. "We
need to convince mothers-to-be and their dais (midwives)
to take advantage of facilities where there is appropriate
medical back-up and to make emergency transportation available
at the appropriate time."
The mortality and complications
rate for village mothers and their newborns is high
in rural India and Maharashtra, unlike urban areas where
medical care is more accessible and knowledge of proper
prenatal care is more widespread. Kamala was lucky;
she had no complications in delivering her twins, and
other than heat rashes and a little colic, they both
are doing fine. For far too many Indian village women,
however, complications lead to illness or death.
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Earlier this year, a woman who had
given birth five days before came to see Dr. Patel on
the mobile hospital. The woman had walked four kilometers
with a high fever, bleeding and infection. It transpired
that the untrained dai who assisted her during labor
and delivery did so with ungloved and unwashed hands.
The woman was given appropriate medications and self
care instructions. When the mobile hospital staff found
out that she was going to walk back to her remote village,
they were greatly concerned that the exertion could
endanger her life even further. The Prasad Chikitsa
team rallied and found a kind jeep driver who drove
her home. A few weeks later, the woman brought her baby
for the staff to see as a gesture of her gratitude.
Both mother and baby were doing well.
Click here to read more about
the
Maternal Child Health Program and Midwife
Training programs.
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