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Case Study 7 :
Social-mobiliser of Women Development Office Helps
to Save a Woman's Life, Kailali District
Uma Shahi lives in Malakheti VDC of Kailali district. At the
age of 19, she was pregnant with her first baby. She and her family
did not feel that pregnancy was a special condition and so she
did attend antenatal care nor receive proper care at home. When
she was in the 4 th month of pregnancy, she started bleeding. She
and her family thought that she was having her periods after four
months. As is the culture in the community, she was made to stay
apart from others in the family, as they could not touch her. But
the bleeding did not stop even after a week.
On the eighth day, the local social mobiliser of the Women Development
Office came to visit the VDC to organise an orientation programme
on safe motherhood. She was talking to the people in the village
and she came to know of Uma's case. She went to the family and
talked to them, and then met Uma who looked extremely pale and
could not rise from her bed. She informed the family that bleeding
in such as case was very dangerous and that Uma should be taken
to the hospital immediately. They replied that they would take
her next day but the social mobiliser refused to listen to them,
immediately organising local transportation and making the family
take Uma to hospital. She also went with them.
When Uma reached the hospital, she received proper medical treatment
from the doctor on duty and her life was saved. Later, when the
orientation programme was taking place in the VDC, both Uma and
her husband came to meet the social mobiliser and thanked her warmly
for telling them about the need to take Uma to the hospital and
for saving her life. |
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