55-year old Hira Devi, a nurse-midwife works in the Jhanjheli Block in the Mandi District of the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, India. As a practicing midwife, she travels up to 18 kilometers each time she goes to assist an expecting mother for a safe delivery at home. Hira Devi’s passion to serve is what helps to move beyond the challenges that come with age as she traverses the challenging terrains to reach mothers and newborns in the scattered households amongst the hills. But despite her unfailing efforts, mothers have still lost their lives due to excessive bleeding after delivery – a factor which has been beyond her control.
The situation recently changed when the Government of Himachal Pradesh initiated the program ‘Community Based Advance Distribution of Misoprostol Tablets to Prevent Postpartum Haemorrhage,’ and her block Jhanjheli of Mandi District was selected for the intervention called ‘Suraksha: Protecting Mothers.’ Hira Devi, along with her 123 co-workers, was trained by VRIDDHI to reach out to expecting mothers in the far flung hilly areas of Jhanjheli to distribute the lifesaving Misoprostol and counsel expecting mothers. Hira Devi and her colleagues also received a flipbook in their local language to help explain ways to have a safe delivery and the use of Misoprostol tablets.
It is because of dedicated midwives like Hira Devi, who works tirelessly year after year, that mothers have access to Misoprostol despite living in areas without access to health facilities. Hira Devi’s own house is located around 50 kilometers away from the subcentre where she is posted and as a result she must live away from her family and closer to her area of work in order to save as many mothers and newborns as possible in the block.
On asking what motivates her to work in such difficult conditions away from her family, Hira Devi says ‘I am very fortunate that I am able to serve people and save lives. Nothing is more satisfying than working for such a noble cause. I feel proud to be part of Suraksha because I feel that it helps me to save lives of mothers. This project does a great service by protecting mothers from dying. I think we are blessed that this is implemented in our block!”
This blog was written by Dr. Rohan Thakur, District Technical Officer, Mandi and Dr. Ankur Sangwan, State Consultant, Himachal Pradesh
Project: Vriddhi : Scaling up RMNCH+A Interventions (IPE Global Ltd)
Partner: IPE Global Ltd
Do you know a midwife who is working to make a difference for the world’s mothers and babies? Help tell her story! Over the coming weeks leading up to the ICM triennial congress we will collect stories about midwives who are leaders in their field and champions for newborns. Send us a 300-600-word blog that include the midwife’s name, country of work, details about their career and how she or he is making a difference in the world for newborns.
Please send all blog submissions to info@healthynewbornnetwork.org. We will post blogs on HNN and our social media accounts with the hashtag #MidwivesVoices and #ICM2017.