A 26-year-old tribal woman gave birth to a girl child on a muddy pathway in the midst of the reserve forest in Nayakaneri hillock near Ambur town, Tirupattur, after she experienced severe labour pain while being transported to hospital in an 108 ambulance, on Thursday.
Health officials at the government hospital in Ambur said that it was around 8.30 a.m. when they received a call from the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) worker in the hillock who informed that M. Vijaya belonging to the Malayali tribe in Pannakattueri, a tribal hamlet atop the hillock, was experiencing labour pain.
Immediately, an 108 ambulance manned by Peer Mohammed Ismail, a medical technician, was dispatched to the hamlet, which is around 15 kms away from the hospital. The ambulance reached the hamlet at 9 a.m. to pick up Vijaya, accompanied by her husband K. Subramani, a mason.
As the labour pain intensified in the course of the journey to the hospital, driver S. Meganathan parked the ambulance on a pathway about four kms away from the hamlet, where Vijaya gave birth to a girl child minutes later. The senior health officials at the government hospital were informed beforehand.
The baby girl is her second child. “The baby girl and her mother are in good health and are currently admitted at the government hospital in Ambur. It was a normal delivery,” said T.K. Senthil, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Tirupattur.
The Nayakaneri village panchayat in the hillock, which is part of Jawadhu Hills in Tirupattur, comprises Nayakaneri, Pannakattueri and Kamalathattur hamlets. Most of the residents belong to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and depend on farming for income.
At present, an ASHA worker is entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring expectant mothers in these hamlets. Each hamlet, on an average, is around 12 kms away from each other in the hillock. These hamlets do not have a sub-health centre or a Village Health Nurse (VHN). Ambulance service to the hillock was introduced more than a year ago. However, due to the lack of a dedicated PHC and accommodation facilities for health staff, the ambulance has been stationed at the government hospital in Ambur. Unlike Nayakaneri hamlet that comprises a bitumen road and a mini-bus service, the other two tribal hamlets rely on muddy pathways, which is suitable only for two-wheelers, to reach the town.
During monsoon, the pathway turns slushy and slippery, making it difficult for ambulances to navigate the road. The residents have called for the intervention of Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian to improve the road infrastructure to these tribal hamlets.
