Tehrathum, Aug 8: The closure of C-section services at the District Hospital in Tehrathum has severely affected service seekers, forcing those requiring the procedure to travel as far as Dharan, Biratnagar and other Terai districts to access necessary care.
The cesarean services have remained suspended since mid-July due to the absence of required workforce to perform the procedures.
Nirmala Shrestha of Piple from Myanglung-4 was brought to the hospital on Saturday morning after she complained of labour pain. She was prescribed a C-section delivery citing, citing the low likelihood of a safe natural delivery. She was then referred to Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), according to her spouse Suren Shrestha.
“Indeed, arranging travel for an expectant mother to Dharan was not easy for the family. On the one hand, it places an additional financial burden on the family; on the other, it increases the risks for the patient,” he said, adding that the family had to hire an electric vehicle at a cost of Rs 10, 000 to take the woman to Dharan, spending around six hours on the journey.
“It was a great inconvenience for the family,” the man said. Phulmaya Karki of Simle from Phedap rural municipality-1 said she was also forced to travel to Dharan to receive C-section services after he due date had passed.
“The need to travel to Dharan and other cities in the Terai plains not only increases the financial burden, but also poses additional bodily challenges. We people from the hills feel uncomfortable in hotter areas. The services should be resumed as soon as possible,” she asserted.
With the support from the Nick Simons Institute, a non-governmental organization, C-section services had been available at the hospital for the past 10 years, according to the hospital administration. The Institute had been providing a six-member medical team comprising an MDGP doctor, medical officer, staff nurse, health assistant, biomedical technician and anesthesia assistant.
The hospital has been facing a shortage of human resources since the Institute’s project for the same ended, resulting in the suspension of services, said hospital’s information officer Mahendra Kumari Khadka.
The hospital used to provide maternity services to around 30-35 women each month until mid-July. However, the number has now dropped sharply to just five or six per month.
It is believed that the families of expectant mothers don’t prefer the hospital, fearing the potential risks from a five-to-six hour journey to another facility in Dharan or Terai plains if a C-section becomes necessary.”
During the fiscal year 2082/ 83 BS (2025-26), the hospital had recorded 44 C-section cases.
Hospital medical superintendent Dr Khadka Lal Payangu Limbu said the Province Health Ministry has been requested to provide an MDGP doctor for the hospital, while preparations are underway to arrange workforce for anaesthesia services using the hospital’s development fund so as to resume the C-section services.
The hospital provides maternity services not only women from Tehrathum itself, but also to those from Madi and Mulkharka in neighbouring Sankhuwasabha district.
