Kin refuse to carry pregnant woman as her ‘blood is impure’

A doctor and a group of journalists in a tribaldominated district of Odisha came to the rescue of a pregnant woman who was shunned by her family over superstitious belief that men are not supposed to come near a woman in labour.

The woman’s husband said he would have liked to help her, but tradition stopped him. “My wife would have died had the doctors and journalists not stepped in.”

The woman in Rayagada district’s Singhamuhi village was experiencing labour pain and was bleeding profusely on Friday night when accredited social health activist (Asha) Geetanjali Pattnaik received information.

As there was no road connectivity to the nearest health centre, Pattnaik urged the woman’s family to carry her on a sling. They, however, refused, saying “a pregnant woman’s blood was impure,” said Pattnaik.

With the family unmoved, she reached out to a doctor and some local journalists who lugged the woman on a stretcher through muddy roads and a river for about 4km. From there, the woman was carried in a jeep.

Laxmi Kanth Sahu, in-charge doctor of Kalyansinghpur CHC, said he was returning from Rayagada when he learnt about the incident. “Along with a team of reporters we went to the village. As there was no road we had to carry her through the mud.”

The team tried to contact 108 ambulance, but as there was no mobile network, the service could not be availed. The woman, who had been bleeding for long, was finally referred to the district hospital. “We had to administer two bottles of blood to stabilise her,” said Dr SP Padhi, additional district medical officer of Rayagada.