According to the UN, 650,000 pregnant women are among the flood victims in Pakistan. Many of them have lived along the roads for up to three weeks without access to medical help. Early births among young mothers are increasing in the province of Baluchistan: Two families with children live in this tent. The rain overturned the lives of the two young mothers who had their own house and vegetable garden. – We lost everything. Now we live on the streets and eat every other day. We have neither vegetables nor meat, says the mother of small children Sughra to news. The worries do not seem to end for the family in Baluchistan. Both Sughra and her sister-in-law, Shamshad, are pregnant. Shamshad is 5 months pregnant. Photo: ATTA ANSARI / news Today they only have wheat flour left. Sughra and Shamshad make chapati bread to feed the family. Worried about birth The flood in Pakistan is caused by huge amounts of rain and the melting of glaciers. One third of Pakistan is under water. 33 million people are affected by the flood, and over 1,000 lives have been lost. Shamshad, who has children from before, talks about uncertainties related to her own birth. – How are we going to give birth here? It is hot during the day. At night we are bothered by mosquitoes. – Before, the births went well. Now I’m worried, says Shamshad to news. More than 200 people have so far lost their lives in Pakistan as a result of the flood. The bodies of water have destroyed thousands of homes and large areas of cultivated land. The river Chenab rose dramatically over the weekend and caused great destruction. Sughra and Shamshad share the fate of many others in Pakistan. 650,000 pregnant women are among the flood victims. 70,000 of them are ready to give birth. – Pregnancy and childbirth cannot wait until emergencies or natural disasters are over. This is when women and children are vulnerable and need the most help, says Bakhtior Kadirov of the UN Population Fund in a press release. Many families with children live along the roads in the area of Jafarabad in the southern province of Balochistan in Pakistan. Photo: ATTA ANSARI / news Outdated equipment The UN has warned that the situation in Pakistan is only going to get worse, and that more than 6.4 million people need humanitarian aid. Most of the flood victims in Jafarabad in Baluchistan have been living along the roads for three weeks. – In the first week of flooding alone, we registered 40-45 premature births out in the streets. Some of them were on their way to the hospital. Others were stuck in their houses and surrounded by water. But we only have two ambulances. They are from 2004 and lack the necessary equipment, says the senior doctor at the district hospital in Jafarabad. Hospital director Imran Baloch Photo: ATTA ANSARI / news At the only hospital in the area which will serve a population of 700,000 people, many premature births have been registered.
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More women give birth prematurely – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
