Women are strong and their strength is determined by the fact they are strong enough to carry a baby in their womb for nine months and then give birth to it. But that isn’t just about it. Each woman has to fight a lot of other problems while giving birth to a baby. Here’s a story of an Indian woman reported by BBC who swam nearly a kilometre, to avoid home birth.
Yellavva, from Karnataka was in her ninth month of pregnancy. She is 22 and a resident of Neelakantarayanagadde, a small island-village on the Krishna river in Yadgir district, some 400km (250 miles) north of Bangalore. She swam nearly a kilometer from her river island village, swollen by monsoon rain to safety in southern Karnataka state, to give birth in hospital. She said she was scared to take this brave step, but as there is no medical centre in her village, she had to do it since she didn’t want to give birth at home. Quite obviously, the villagers and doctors have described her swim as an amazing achievement.
The only way to travel from there to the mainland is by a raft – which doesn’t operate when the river is too choppy. Yellavva crossed the river last Wednesday. She said that its swirling waters were rising 12 to 14 feet and even experienced swimmers would have hesitated to get into the water at the time. She was helped by her father, brother and cousins who swam with her.
The heavy current pushed them far downstream, making the distance they swam nearly one kilometer.
She told BBC Hindi,
I was scared. But it was for my child that I got the determination to get over all my fear and cross the rising river waters. My brother went in front. I was next. My brother and cousins had tied dried hollowed pumpkin and bottle gourds around me so I was afloat.
Lakshman, her brother, held on to the rope tied to the gourds and pumpkins. He said,
My father was right behind her. Normally, the distance is a little more than half a kilometre. But, it took us about an hour to get her across. As we reached mid-point, the current was very very strong.
Yellavva said the swim made her tired, but a doctor who examined her on arrival at the government medical centre in the nearby village of Kekkera said “she is fine and resting at a relative’s home”.
The doctor taking care of her, named Dr. Veena, said,
Her baby, due in 20 to 25 days, is fine too. I have been here for seven years. A handful of people have crossed the river with some help. However, I have not seen any pregnant woman crossing the river when it is in this state and that too in the ninth month of pregnancy.
Venkatesh Dore, a reporter for a local newspaper who took Yellavva’s photo, said,
She is an example of courage and determination. The first thing that struck me when I took her photograph was that she was so determined to cross the river in spate.
This brave act only makes us prouder of women and things they do for their children!
The news information and image have been sourced from BBC
