Displaced pregnant mothers in southeastern Shwegu Township, Banmaw District, Kachin State, are in need of medical assistance, according to reports.
Among the displaced people from 12 villages in Shwegu Township, including Manwein, Naunglattgyi, Namlang, Sithar and neighbouring villages, there are about 50 pregnant mothers. Some of them have had to give birth in the forests while fleeing and need medical assistance, a midwife from Manwein told Kachin News Group.
“In the past few months, I’ve helped four of them give birth. They had to give birth in the forests under difficult conditions. They had no proper shelter in the forest. Those who could afford went to the city to give birth. Those who live in the forests have to do so at the risk of their lives,” she said.
The midwife went on to say that those who had to give birth in the forests fleeing the war are in urgent need of medical supplies, while the pregnant women also need vaccines.
The Myanmar army began its advance into southeastern Shwegu after 20 March. The regime’s troops were ambushed by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the People’s Defence Forces (PDF), after which the regime’s troops set fire to 12 villages in the area, forcing residents to flee to safety.
Although displaced pregnant mothers from the 12 villages received vaccinations at the Sithar rural hospital prior to their displacement, they were unable to receive further vaccinations due to a shortage of nurses at the hospital, said one pregnant mother.
“Since March, when our villages were destroyed, we haven’t been able to get vaccinated. Mothers with three-month-old babies have to get vaccinated two months in a row. As a reserve midwife, I don’t administer the vaccine. Only the nurses do that, but none of them are in the hospital now,” she said.
Local residents say they currently have no access to hospitals or clinics, and even those who can afford have difficulty reaching Shwegu town, more than ten miles away.
“There are no nurses here. The hospital has been closed for a long time. So we have difficulties. Many pregnant mothers haven’t yet given birth. Those who can afford go to the city. Those who can’t afford stay here and take the medicines they think are good,” said a pregnant mother from Sithar village.
Although expectant mothers are supposed to be vaccinated twice after four months of pregnancy, some displaced pregnant women haven’t even been vaccinated at all.
Sen by KNG.