Pregnant women in Kurigram flood shelters at high risk

Pregnant women in the flood-hit areas of Kurigram who have left home and taken shelter on the government roads, dykes built by the Water Development Board and railway lines are facing health risks.

Last week, eight women who took shelter on the railway line from Balabari Station to Ramna Station at Thanahat union of Chilmari upazila have given birth.

Minki Begum, 30, who is in her last trimester, has taken temporary shelter with her family on the railway line. Her parents' house is also submerged in floodwater, and so she has nowhere else to go.

Minki said there is barely enough food and she has to do all the work around the shelter as well. It is unsafe for her to walk around the railway line too, she added.

Her husband Jahangir Alam was a van puller but he is unemployed now. He has no money to buy food or provide medical services.

There is no medical support around the temporary shelter areas either, he added.

Heavily pregnant Shamsunnahar Begum (25), has also taken shelter on the railway line.

"I don't know how to take care of myself in such a situation as I get no rest," she said.

Fatema Begum (26), who is also in her ninth month of pregnancy, said no one is coming to assist the expecting mothers in the shelter. "I need the advice of health workers, but I am not getting any."

Dr Nazrul Islam, deputy director of Kurigram district family planning office said that eight women gave birth in a temporary shelter at Thanahat area in the last one week. They were assisted by family planning health workers, he added.

The Thanahat Family Planning Office is now submerged in floodwater, causing problems for the health workers.

The health workers have been instructed to look for and counsel the pregnant women in these areas, he said.

Nazrul said they do not have an exact number of pregnant women, who are at risk, need rest and nutritious meals, in these areas.