Surkhet: Even though the gov­ernment has started provid­ing pregnant women monetary incentives to deliver at approved healthcare centers, 30 per­cent women of Surkhet district in western Nepal still deliver babies in unsafe cowsheds. In this part of Nepal, there many families that still consider preg­nant women ‘impure’ and rele­gate them to cowsheds for the nine months of pregnancy.

 

“These unhygienic conditions led to many still-births,” says Basanta Shrestha, the informa­tion officer of District Health Office. Even though women who do go for check-ups get Rs 400 in incentive money, around 30 percent women in the district come fewer than two times, and often deliver in the sheds. APEX BUREAU