Assam flood: Sandbar dweller delivers baby on rescue boat in Morigaon

GUWAHATI: At a char (sandbar) in Assam's flood-hit Morigaon district, a 25-year-old woman found herself in a challenging situation. As she was evacuated to the nearest health facility by a team of doctors and nurses across the raging Brahmaputra on Wednesday, she went into labour, necessitating an unconventional delivery setting.
The medical team attending to her had to improvise, using a boat as a makeshift birthing facility.To shield the mother and the healthcare professionals from the relentless downpour, a tarpaulin cover was put in place and despite the adverse conditions, the woman successfully gave birth to a healthy child on the boat surrounded by turbulent waters of the Brahmaputra.
Sub-divisional medical officer of Jhargaon, Dr P C Pator, who was leading the health department team told TOI, "It is so satisfying that we could successfully complete the delivery. The mother and the baby are absolutely fine at Jhargaon block PHC."
Dr Pator said the baby has been found to have a congenital defect. "We are yet to determine the sex of the baby. Everything else is normal."
The doctor and his colleagues have been courageously navigating the turbulent waters of the Brahmaputra daily, venturing to the many river islands with two primary goals - to safely evacuate all expectant mothers, young children, and senior citizens from these remote locations, and is to provide essential medical attention to those who are ill.
"On Wednesday, we visited about five such chars and at Khandakhaiti we came across Jahanara Khatoon who was expecting her third child in August. But when our team examined her, they found that she needed to be brought to hospital immediately. We brought her to the boat and started moving when she went into labour," Dr Pator said.
With Khatoon and her baby safe, Dr Pator and his team evacuated another pregnant woman from another char on Thursday. "She is expecting soon,' he said.