Now, waiting hubs for pregnant women at Bhatora

On Mother's Day, there is good news for those residing in the lone island area — Bhatora — in Howrah district that is surrounded by three different rivers.

With the district administration taking steps to ensure institutional delivery, at nearby Jaipur in Howrah, arrangements are being made to keep pregnant women in a waiting hub.

The district administration has taken the step after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed the officials of the health department in the district to take immediate measures so that residents of the island do not have to travel far after crossing the rivers on boats with a pregnant woman in labour.

The district authorities will write to the health department about the proposal of developing infrastructure for institutional delivery at Howrah's Jaipur besides setting up the waiting hub.

According to an official in Howrah, at present there are waiting hubs in some parts of the state like Sunderbans in South 24-Parganas. Now, similar hubs will be developed at Jaipur in Howrah where pregnant women will be brought in 15 days before their delivery date.

At present health check-up camps are organised twice a week at Jaipur and the proposed waiting hub will come into existence where the health check-up camp runs at present. There will be capacity to accommodate 10 pregnant women at a time in the waiting hub. They will be kept under round-the-clock surveillance of doctors.

"There is a need to post doctors, group D employees and nurses at the waiting hub where institutional deliveries will also be carried out," the official said adding that infrastructure development like repairing of an already existing concrete structure will also have to be carried out.

"We will be writing it to the state health department seeking intervention to develop the necessary infrastructure and to post the needed manpower," she said.

With initiation of the facility at Howrah's Jaipur, people from Bhatora will no more have to take a pregnant woman to Bagnan Regional Hospital.

Presently, family members of a pregnant woman need to cross rivers on a boat and take vehicles to each Bagnan Regional Hospital or Jaipur.

The task becomes all the more difficult in Monsoons as it is a flood-prone area.

The island, with around 25,000 population, is surrounded by three rivers — Damodar, Rupnarayan and Mundeswari. As per the recent data, the rate of institutional delivery in Howrah is 96.1 percent.

The Chief Minister have directed the district authorities to take necessary steps to reach the target of 100 percent in institutional delivery in Howrah.

Thus, with the aim of reaching the target, the district authorities are taking necessary steps to ensure 100 percent institutional delivery.