Mumra (Kalikot), Dec 11: Mumra village in Kalikot lies in a remote region far from the federal capital, Kathmandu.
Although infrastructure development is gradually progressing, the area is now considered relatively accessible in terms of safe motherhood services.
In recent years, women here have faced challenges in accessing such services, but the village located in Sanni Tribeni rural municipality–8 now reports full access to institutional maternity care. There have been no maternal or neonatal deaths in the past five years, a significant change compared to earlier times. Likewise, no air rescue has been required for expectant mothers for the past two years.
The village is connected by a gravel road from Sannighat, which takes about two to three hours for motorable vehicles during the dry season. However, during the rainy season, travel within this timeframe is not possible.
The local government’s efforts to increase citizens’ access to safe motherhood services appear exemplary, and their practices could serve as a model for federal and provincial-level policymakers.
The rural municipality was ranked first among local levels in Kalikot in the federal government’s Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA) index.
Rural municipality Chair Mohan Bahadur KC said, “For the past five years, no pregnant woman or newborn has died.”
The village has mobilised health professionals and female community health volunteers to deliver safe motherhood services directly to households. There are five birthing centers within the rural municipality, and all of them are reachable on foot within an hour.
One local resident shared, “My children were born in the forest. I used to carry loads of grass along with my babies. Those days are gone now. Back then, going to doctors or hospitals was not a common practice.”
Rachana Kumari Budha, 32, who recently delivered her third baby, said that all her children were born at the Mumra Health Post. “When labour pains begin, we have to be carried to the health post on a stretcher. The nurses and female health workers speak kindly and treat us well,” she said.
According to the health post in-charge, Dhirendra KC, 11 women have given birth there in the first four months of the current fiscal year, including one who was 18. Last fiscal year, 44 women delivered their babies at the same facility.
“The village reports no home births now,” he said. “Since the birthing center received additional essential equipment, the number of complications has significantly decreased.”
Published on 2025-12-11 11:45
