Support 300 Safe Births in the Nepal Himalaya

Anita lives with her husband in Kashiguan Village which is in the Gorkha district in Nepal. She belongs to the Dalit community, disadvantaged for being traditionally seen as the “untouchable” caste. To add to Anita’s difficulties, Kashiguan was one of the areas most affected by the 2015 earthquake, many people lost their homes, food supplies and livestock assets.

Before PHASE was operational in Kashigaun only 32% of the women were unable to have any health checks during their pregnancies. But by the time Anita became pregnant she was aware that PHASE had started offering health support in her area and she attended all four recommended antenatal visits. During these visits Anita was given education about pregnancy and birth and learnt about new born care. This is very important in Kashiguan as without this education, 30% of women could not correctly answer questions on the best methods for cutting umbilical cords, first steps to take immediately after birth or bathing and feeding methods. Everything progressed smoothly in Anita’s pregnancy until the final month when she began to feel pain. Medications given by the PHASE nursing staff relieved the pain initially, but as her due date approached, the pain intensified significantly and Anita knew that something was wrong. Her husband and neighbours sent for help from the PHASE health post as Anita began to lose hope of surviving the birth. Thankfully her baby boy was delivered successfully despite the fact that the umbilical cord had been wrapped round his neck and Anita had lost consciousness. Thanks to the expertise of the PHASE staff both Anita and baby are safe and healthy.

PHASE believes that just addressing health issues does not help people escape from the cycle of poverty.  In Gorkha the main livelihood is farming, but most farmers are often unable to produce enough food for their families. During her pregnancy, Anita had been enrolled in the PHASE livelihoods programme and received 10 poultry chicks in addition to training on poultry rearing. She has also been using some of the spare land near her house to start a kitchen garden. With support from PHASE to get start, Anita is able to feed and sustain her new family of three independently.  

Links:

• PHASE Worldwide