Officials at DPHO said that new centers will be launched in Sundarijal and Lapsifedi VDCs. "Those areas are so remote that people have to travel for two to three hours," said Sri Krishna Bhatta, Chief of Kathmandu DPHO. [break]
He said pregnant women of the areas are at high risk of developing complications, as there are no other health institutions. The office has already been operating birthing center in Nanglebhare VDC, some 34 kilometers from the metropolis. The number of birthing centers run by the office will reach 10 after new centers start providing services.
According to Bhatta, skill birth attendance (SBA) trained health workers will provide safe delivery service from the centers. Skill attendance during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal period is very much important for mothers and neonatal survival.
The office has already been providing safe motherhood programs like antenatal and postnatal checkup, immunization, nutrition and others programs from such centers.
"We are mulling to expand service in other remote VDCs as well to mitigate the risks," added Bhatta. Bhatta said that his office does not know about the exact percentage of the women, who gave birth to their child at home. "We don´t know the exact percentage of such women but there may be significant proportion," he admitted. Some centers however, have started birthing facility but still have been sending women in labor pain to the big hospitals in the city citing that they do not have advance facilities.
The MoHP has been providing free service to expecting mothers from government health centers across the country since 2009 to reduce maternal mortality rate.
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