June 2015
Lack of proper abortion facilities force women to run from pillar to post
Women seeking abortions in a remote village in India are turned away from the state-run health facilities due to a lack of infrastructure and are forced to approach private practitioners. Last year, 24- year old Masahun Khatun was 5 months pregnant when she fell in the front yard of her...
Why women opt out of institutional deliveries
The Indian’s government’s scheme to bring down maternal and neonatal focuses on encouraging women to deliver at state-run health facilities–Providing cash incentives and free healthcare for pregnant women below the poverty line. However, pregnant women in Bankeda village Odisha are forced to hire private vehicles and pay for check-ups and...
The Nurse Asked Me for 500 Rupees to Cut My Umbilical Cord
A pregnant woman in Bihar was charged Rs 500 for cutting of the umbilical cord and also had to pay for painkillers she needed before her delivery. Women in the village report that on refusing to pay, the Auxiliary-Nurse Midwife refuses to service them point blank. This is despite a...
One Village. Three Women. A state-run health facility that never opens
Do pregnant women in remote villages of India receive healthcare services they are entitled to under the Indian government’s schemes to bring down maternal deaths and infant mortality? In this village, a state-run health facility is always shut. This video follows three women – one who lost her baby within...
One front line health worker for 14 centres
Ahilya Devi, a septuagenarian, is the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife from Jharkhand. She currently looks after the 14 sub-health centres in different villages while according to health ministry guidelines one auxiliary nurse midwife is supposed to look after 8. Apart from being over-worked, Ahilya also faces problems because there are no...
One woman’s harrowing experience of giving birth at a state-run health facility
A 24-year old woman in labour was kept waiting for the doctor for 6 hours. The doctor on duty did not turn up and she delivered in the presence of a nurse. She was forced to pay INR 400 for her delivery and even, to use the toilet. She neither...
You can’t Deliver Your Baby Here, The Roof May Collapse Any Moment
Crumbling infrastructure at a state-run health facility keeps pregnant women from availing healthcare services here. With a roof that leaks during the monsoon and no functional toilets, both frontline health workers and patients find it difficult to use. Bharti Kumari Reports from Telmocho village, Dhanbad district, Jharkhand This series on...
Back to The Roots, Organic Farming Gets a Boost in Rural Jharkhand
Tilopada Village, West Singhbhum District, Jharkhand | Xavier Hamsay The farming community of Bandgaon block is in the midst of a small revolution. After years of using chemical fertilisers that have slowly leached their soil of any nutrients, they are revisiting organic methods like using vermicompost to nurture the earth....