Adivasi woman delivers baby on road in Kothagudem

In Kothagudem’s Cherla mandal, an adivasi woman delivered a baby on the roadside after walking six kilometres in a doli due to poor ambulance access. Both mother and child are safe, doctors said, after being shifted to Satyanarayanapuram government hospital

Kothagudem: An adivasi woman gave birth to a child on the road while on her way to hospital in Cherla mandal of Kothagudem on Tuesday.

The woman, Ravva Bhime, a resident of Battigudem village in the mandal, developed labour pains in the morning. As ambulances could not reach the village due to poor road connectivity, her family members carried her in a doli, a makeshift stretcher. After walking for about six kilometres, she delivered the baby on the road. Later, the family managed to hire an auto-rickshaw to take her to hospital, but an ambulance arrived midway and shifted her along with the newborn safely to the government hospital at Satyanarayanapuram.

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Doctors who conducted medical examinations said both mother and child were healthy and safe. They pointed out that during the previous BRS regime, birth waiting rooms were set up at PHCs in agency areas so that pregnant women could avoid last-minute rush to hospitals. However, many pregnant women neglect to get admitted in advance, leading to such emergency situations, the doctors said.