GILGIT: The Pakistan Army executed a mission to rescue a woman stricken by a medical emergency while giving birth to her twins in the Kamri area of Astore in Gilgit-Baltistan, the military’s media wing said on Sunday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), complications arose after the birth of the first child on Saturday as the patient needed medical assistance with delivering the second.

The 27-year-old’s remote Zayan village’s access to the Minimarg Civil Hospital was severed by days of snowfall.

Remote villages in Gilgit-Baltistan, particularly Gultari, Minimarg, Kamri, Kashi, Franchat, Follok, Ginyar and others located in upper parts of the Skardu and Astore districts remain cut off from the rest of the region for at least five months during winters.

In the absence of adequate maternal care facilities, even minor complications mean no less than a death sentence for both the mother and the child. With high rates of maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths, Gilgit-Baltistan continues to fall behind targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, according to the National Health Institute and the Aga Khan University.

The statement issued by the military’s media wing said while responding to the distress call, Pakistan Army personnel shifted the patient to their first aid centre in Kamri before transferring her to the Minimarg Civil Hospital 15 kilometres away where she gave birth to a baby girl.

The mother and her newborns were healthy and out of danger according to Pakistan Army doctors.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2025