PESHAWAR: The health department is providing hygiene kits to pregnant women in flood-hit districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to ensure safer childbirth, say officials.

According to them, the Mother and Child Health (MCH) section at the directorate-general (health services) has registered pregnant women in 11 flood-hit districts for regular checkup to prevent birth-related complications.

The officials said the province had 26,247 registered pregnant women, including 11,868 in Swat, 6,436 in Kolai Palas, 2,621 in Shangla, 944 in Charsadda, 815 in Nowshera, 642 in Dera Ismail Khan, 557 in Upper Chitral, 487 in Tank, 398 in Lower Kohistan, 376 in Lower Chitral and 103 in Upper Kohistan.

MCH deputy director Dr Tanveer Inam told Dawn that the collection of data of pregnant women would continue to ensure safe deliveries in the wake of flood disaster.

Health official says initiative to ensure safer childbirth

“We have deployed lady health workers who are visiting door-to-door and identify the child-bearing women to give them proper advice, check their nutritional status, blood pressure, weight etc,” he said.

According to him, the health department has already sent medical supplies, especially 22 ‘very essential’ drugs, to ensure safety of the health of mothers and children in the disaster-hit areas.

“We have categorised women and carry out their examinations according to pregnancy period. They’re given free consultation and medicines by health workers in their homes,” he said.

Dr Tanveer said the women required at least eight checkups before delivery, so health department had initiated the drive to ensure that the affected people facing displacement and other issues and unable to visit hospitals receive home-based services.

He said during flooding, the health department had deployed mobile hospitals with at least one women medical officer, who examined pregnant women.

“Until now, 33 deliveries have been conducted through mobile hospitals with no complications reported,” he said.

The official said 6,049 women had three-month pregnancy, 13,287 six-month and 4,174 nine- month and 8,342 full-term one, but all received antenatal care to prevent complications.

He said the health department had not only ensured the availability of all necessary medicines in flood-hit areas but it was also in contact with partner organisations to ensure safe delivery and provide hygiene kits to women free of charge.

“We have also obtained the data of women in reproductive age and married women in the flood-affected districts to give them medical support to make the delivery process smooth and ensure better health of mothers and their newborns,” he said.

Meanwhile, MCH director Dr Khizar Hayat told Dawn that natural or manmade calamities caused skin, eye, chest and stomach problems among the people but mothers and children were the most vulnerable groups, so they needed support the most.

“Our teams have tackled the emergency effectively. Now, our focus is on the better health of women and children. Many partner agencies have pledged support to mother and child health-related activities in the areas devastated by the downpour lately,” he said.

Dr Khizar said every pregnant woman should undergo checkups to know about hemoglobin level and health status for necessary action accordingly.

“All pregnant women need counselling on how to stay healthy,” he said.

The director said the women were prone to low hemoglobin levels, which caused anemia, so regular checkups were necessary to take corrective steps.

He said high blood pressure was one of the causes of maternal mortality, which could be avoided through checkups.

According to Dr Khizer, the World Health Organisation, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and other partner groups are in contact with the health department for the improvement of healthcare system in the province, especially provision of hygiene kits to pregnant women in the wake of the flash floods.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2022