Odisha ensures safe delivery of 120 babies during Amphan
Odisha’s Bhadrak district administration, determined to fight cyclone Amphan, seems to have not only won a war against the devastating disaster by minimising the number of human casualties but also by ensuring 120 safe institutional births.
Soon after the India Meteorological Department predicted on May 15 about the formation of the cyclone over the Bay of Bengal and that it would hit the coast on May 19, the district collector undertook mapping of pregnant women in the state in their advance stage and shifted them to public health institutions.
In the three days spanning from May 19 to 21, the administration shifted 435 pregnant women from their houses to public health institutions and kept them under observation of gynecologists and paramedics.
While 108 women had normal delivery, the remaining 12 babies were born through Caesarean section.
“We had taken a vow that no pregnant woman in her advance stage shall be deprived of institutional delivery. Required number of ambulances were organised to ferry the pregnant women from their home to the hospitals. We launched a special mission ‘Cyclone can’t deter us from motherhood.’ And, we are quite happy that we successfully lived up to our commitment,” said Bhadrak collector Gyana Das.
The Collector has tagged photographs of the newborns and new mothers in the official Twitter handle of Bhadrak district administration.
Bhadrak is one of the four districts of Odisha that has severely been hit by super cyclone Amphan.