The Aathbiskot Municipality in the district has come up with a noble idea to provide free ambulance service to pregnant women to minimise death rate among mothers and infants, and childbirth complications.

For the purpose, the process has been initiated to purchase two ambulances, said the municipality mayor Gorakh Bahadur KC. "The service was in urgent need as many pregnant women failed to make it to health institutions for delivery due to lack of transportation."

Health institutions are not accessible easily to many rural parts of the district, and as a result, expectant mothers in many cases are forced to give birth at home risking their lives.

Many women were found suffering from uterine prolapse and pelvic/ lower abdominal pain during a health camp organised earlier in the area by the Municipality, KC said.

So the free ambulance service will also help women get to a hospital on time for treatment for various diseases, he added.

Likewise, the municipality has started a campaign to provide vegetable seeds for those pregnant women who visit health institutions for vaccination. The drive aims to improve health of pregnant women and their infants and to get full immunization coverage in the municipality.

Likewise, the municipality also distributes rice, oil, spices and vegetable seeds worth Rs 2,000 to each mother who visit a town health unit established by the municipality for birth registration within 35 days of birth. The municipality has set up a town health unit at various 14 places in the area for providing health service to pregnant women and for birth registration. RSS