Sajina Tamang, a 17-year-old pregnant woman of Sertung in Rubi Valley Rural Municipality-3, Dhading went to the Sertung health post on August 8 for delivery. But she struggled to give birth even after hours of going into labour. The health workers recommended her family take her to Kathmandu immediately.

The local unit sent in a recommendation to the District Administration Office who in turn informed the Ministry of Women and Senior Citizens to arrange for a helicopter to send Tamang to Kathmandu.

The helicopter came to the village within an hour.

Tamang was taken to Paropakar Maternity & Women's Hospital in Kathmandu where she gave birth the same day. “She was facing delivery complications and if the authorities had not intervened I would have lost my wife and child,” said Mini Tamang, her husband.

According to the District Administration Office, Dhading, in the fiscal year 2021-22, sixteen people—12 pregnant women and four other critical patients—received air service free of cost. The pregnant women were rescued by the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens under the President's Women Upliftment Programme.

Rubi Valley Rural Municipality has poor road infrastructure and pregnant women facing delivery complications cannot make it to the hospital on time for successful deliveries.

Krishna Prasad Lamsal, Chief District Officer, said that the free air rescue of pregnant women in remote areas has saved several lives. “If the health facility in the village cannot provide specific medical services then the patient can be taken to Kathmandu immediately, under the coordination of the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens,” said Lamsal. “This service is not only available to women of Ruby Valley but is also extended to the women of Gangajamuna Rural municipality and Khaniabas Rural Municipality, other remote local units.”

According to Deepak Adhikari, health coordinator of the Gangajamuna Rural Municipality, several lives of mothers and infants who required serious medical treatment have been saved due to the free air ambulance service.

The health posts in rural areas do not offer specialist services since they are not equipped to do so due to geographical difficulties. With the aim of preventing untimely deaths due to lack of health care, the government has provided free ambulance services and air rescue services to pregnant and postpartum women.

In the previous fiscal year, five women were rescued by helicopters in the Rubi Valley Rural Municipality, according to Adhikari.

Raj Tamang, the health coordinator of the Rubi Valley Rural Municipality, said that there are cases of untimely deaths of mothers and children in rural areas due to a lack of timely medical intervention. Difficult topography, lack of road penetration and ineffective health services in the village, have resulted in several infant deaths in remote villages.

Even though the legal marriageable age for women is 20 years in Nepal, in rural areas people marry at a young age resulting in teen pregnancies which puts the lives of both the mother and child at risk.

According to Arun Tamang, the head of the health centre at the Gangajamuna Rural Municipality, the local unit in coordination with the federal government has taken steps to ensure that women opt for institutional births to reduce the risk of complications during home births. “Most women in the village opt for home births because of financial constraints among other things. But the government has introduced several programmes to encourage women to opt for institutional birth wherein pregnant women get allowances for regular health checkups that also cover the transportation cost and for a nutritious diet,” said Arun Tamang.

“Those who give birth to their first child at home absurdly think that their second child will also be born at home safely. But home births are mostly complicated so we refer pregnant women to well-facilitated hospitals for delivery and the free air ambulance service has helped increase the number of women opting for institutional births,” he said.

Suntali Tamang, a 17-year-old pregnant woman of Ri village in Gangajamuna Rural Municipality-2, was taken to the Ganesh Himal Health Post after she suffered from sharp pains in her abdomen. She was referred to Kathmandu after she started bleeding profusely at the health centre. “It was not possible for an ambulance to come to fetch her because of the road condition. A helicopter was called in and she was sent to Kathmandu. She had a successful delivery at a hospital in Kathmandu,” said Arun Tamang.