A birthing centre with an ultrasound scan and a skilled doctor was set up at Ngiko Health Post in ward 7 of Kailash Rural Municipality, one of the remote local units of the district, on Wednesday.

According to Lok Bahadur Moktan, chairman of Kailash Rural Municipality, local women had no choice other than to visit Hetauda for routine pregnancy tests and safe delivery due to the absence of a birthing centre in the rural municipality.

The centre is expected to make things easier for women and to promote institutional birth, he said.

On the first day, 40 pregnant women got their health examined at the centre, said Moktan.