A pregnant tribal woman was carried in a 'dholi' (makeshift stretcher) due to the lack of proper roads after she went into labour. She gave birth in transit in Shahapur taluka of Thane district of Maharashtra on Sunday, as reported by the news agency PTI. 


The woman from Patikacha Pada hamlet was being carried in the dholi in the late morning hours by her family members and some villagers. She delivered a girl at around noon a villager and an ASHA worker said, PTI reported. The woman and the baby were later taken to the Kasara primary health center (PHC) in a private vehicle. The mother and the baby are safe and stable, the health worker said.


A villager said they crossed streams and difficult terrain while taking the woman to the nearest PHC from their hamlet. "Luckily, an ASHA worker accompanied us and helped in the smooth delivery," he said, as quoted by PTI. Villagers said that the village was adopted by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde when he was the guardian minister of Thane district.


In another incident in August, a four-and-a-half-month-old pregnant woman delivered her baby on the roadside near the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow. The foetus was brought dead to a hospital, doctors said, PTI reported.


A video of the incident surfaced on social media which drew a sharp reaction to the state of health services in UP from Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav.


The incident was confirmed by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak. “I have taken cognizance of the incident and I am going to the spot. What I have been told by the principal secretary is that this family was going in a rickshaw and the incident took place near gate number 13 of the Raj Bhavan,” the minister said when contacted by PTI initially. The baby was taken to Veerangana Jhalkari Bai Women and Child Hospital where it was declared dead by doctors, PTI reported.


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