Safe Maternal Healthcare

Bringing Safe Maternal Healthcare to Remote Mountain Communities

Background

Chumnubri Rural Municipality in northern Gorkha is one of the most remote areas of Nepal, with seven wards. Many villages still have no road access, which makes it hard for people to reach a health facility, above all during medical emergencies, pregnancy complications and childbirth.

For pregnant women in these mountain communities, regular antenatal care (ANC) is difficult to reach. Long distances, limited access to ultrasound and laboratory services, shortages of essential medicines and equipment, and poor communication can all delay care. In a serious emergency a helicopter evacuation may be the only option, and its cost is beyond the means of many families. When essential maternal and newborn services are not available locally, mothers and newborns are put at greater risk.

Supporting Sirdibas Health Post

At the request of the Health Department of Chumnubri Rural Municipality, Kyimolung Foundation equipped Sirdibas Health Post with essential medical and laboratory equipment on 17 March 2022:

• A portable ultrasound machine
• A CBC (complete blood count) automated hematology analyzer, with stabilizer
• A microscope
• A roller and other essential laboratory equipment
• Other necessary healthcare supplies

Before these services were available locally, patients often had to travel long distances for basic tests and examinations; for some families that meant walking an hour or more. Bringing diagnostic services closer to communities eases that burden and improves access to basic healthcare in remote villages.

Strengthening Birthing Centres Across Seven Wards

We have also helped strengthen birthing services at all seven health posts of Chumnubri Rural Municipality. The equipment was handed to the ward chairpersons through the Rural Municipality Office and then passed on to the health posts. It included:

• Safe delivery beds
• Baby warmers
• Suction machines and Penguin suction devices
• Fetal Dopplers
• Cord clamps
• Autoclaves
• Baby weighing scales
• CPS sets
• Ring pessaries
• Uterine Balloon Tamponade (UBT) devices
• Non-pneumatic Anti-Shock Garments (NASG)
• Oxygen cylinders
• Oxygen concentrators
• Other essential maternal and newborn supplies

Health Posts Supported

One Portable Ultrasound Machine for Seven Wards

Because of the remote geography and limited resources, one portable ultrasound machine serves all seven wards of Chumnubri. Rather than staying at a single health post, it can be carried by trained Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) or Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs) to different communities.

The plan is to run mobile antenatal care outreach visits, taking ultrasound and pregnancy check-ups to women in remote villages who would otherwise struggle to reach a health facility, so that families no longer need to travel long distances for basic pregnancy-related care.

Building Sustainable Maternal and Newborn Healthcare

Our goal is sustainable, locally available maternal and newborn care, so that women can receive essential care close to home. By equipping local health posts and birthing centres, we aim to help health workers provide safer care and reduce preventable risks for mothers and newborns. This is not only about equipment: it is about strengthening local healthcare so that communities keep receiving essential services in their own villages.

Partnership and Gratitude

We are deeply grateful to Humanitarian Efforts Reaching Out (HERO) for their generous support and donation, and to our partner Elevate Nepal for their coordination and help with shipment and logistics. This partnership is strengthening healthcare in Sirdibas and neighbouring communities, above all for pregnant women, newborns and families in remote mountain villages.

Every mother and every newborn deserves a safe beginning.