Mothers, infants in Pakistan face a 'second disaster' after massive floods: relief worker

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Floodwaters in Pakistan are starting to recede, but for many of those affected by this summer's disastrous flooding, finding ways to survive is still an everyday struggle.

This is especially true for the more than 600,000 pregnant women in the country, some of whom are forced to give birth in unsanitary conditions.

"With almost two million homes destroyed, many women don't know where they're going to deliver their babies," humanitarian worker Hiba Siddiqui told The Current's Matt Galloway.

"The extensive damage to roads and communication networks, they further hinder access to clinics and hospitals."

Thousands of those health-care facilities have been destroyed — and Siddiqui said many of those still standing have a shortage of medicines. Young patients, including infants, are developing waterborne diseases, respiratory issues and skin diseases.

Siddiqui spoke to Galloway about how the lack of basic needs for mothers and infants could lead to a "second disaster" after the initial floods, and what international communities and aid organizations can do to help. Here's part of their conversation.

Tell me about what you've seen specifically when it comes to some of the situations of the women that you've encountered.

A few weeks ago I travelled to a village approximately five hours from the province's capital, Karachi. The area was covered in sea-like water, crops, [and] livestock that were all swept away.

This is where I actually met hordes of women who were either pregnant or had just given birth. 

I remember meeting this lady called Mina … who had just given birth two days ago, and she told me that when she started her labour pains, she had no transport to reach the hospital. Someone from their village arranged a rickshaw that took her to the hospital. By the time she reached the hospital, she had almost given birth. 

So the baby and Mina were back home after two days. But after being back home, when I met them, the infant and the mom both had developed a skin disease — and this is primarily because of the contaminated water, which is giving birth to waterborne diseases. 

Due to lack of nutrition, these new mothers are struggling to feed their infants as they're unable to produce enough milk. Another woman who I met was full term and she told me she doesn't have enough to eat and she's only surviving on one or two pieces of bread every day. 

How far of a trip is it to the hospital?

We're talking about hundreds of miles to reach the basic health facilities, and the health facilities are all dysfunctional and overcrowded due to the floods. 

Even when they try to reach these facilities, the places are full of patients and the paramedical staff is overwhelmed, and there's also [a] shortage of medicines [and] medical supplies. 

So even when they try to make it to the hospital, the situation there is not ... very encouraging.

This is affecting some 650,000 pregnant women. What is being done for them? Because it's not just prenatal care, it's also post-natal care.

Different aid agencies are coming forward. They're trying to set up medical camps. The only health facilities that are existing in these flood-affected areas are run by the government and they are catering to all these needs of the flood-affected population. 

In addition, the government has, along with the U.N., launched an appeal to meet the most immediate needs of the affected communities. And Islamic Relief, we've been working on the ground since the beginning, starting off from the worst affected areas of Balochistan and moving on to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. 

WATCH: Medical care hard to find in Pakistan's worst flooded areas

Medical care hard to find in Pakistan’s worst flooded areas

2 years ago

Duration 3:03

In Pakistan's Sindh province, one of the worst flooded areas, it's nearly impossible to get medical care with some villages still completely cut off by high water.

We've been reaching these affected communities with life-saving aid, which include shelters and food cash grants and hygiene items. And these items have a special focus on women's menstrual hygiene.

To avoid spread of diseases, we're providing clean drinking water every day to thousands of people through water tankering, and we're also building makeshift latrines.

A very interesting fact that I'd like to mention here [is] that the houses that [were] built after the 2010 floods in Pakistan were disaster-resilient. So they survived the current super floods, and this is something that makes us believe that climate-resilient infrastructure is the need of the hour.

Is your sense … that the government response has been enough to help those who would be facing the most severe impacts of this flooding?

This disaster, this is something that is unforeseen. It is unprecedented. We weren't expecting this kind of disaster. So no matter how much prepared one country could be, this is something that none of us were prepared for. 

So to say that the services or whatever the government is doing and whatever the agencies are doing is going to be enough, that wouldn't be correct. We need to do much more to reach … these vulnerable groups who are already living under the poverty line.

The floods hit us at a time when we're going through the worst economic crisis, and like I said, the floods have fractured our economy further. People have lost their homes. People have lost their lives and livelihoods.

So, you know, I'd like to urge the international community to step forward, to provide as much support as possible [to] Pakistan, as a nation has been really generous and has shown generosity towards hosting millions of refugees for decades now at enormous cost. 

We'd also like to urge the developed countries to address this climate injustice by setting up some global finance facility to address the losses and damages, to maybe provide some debt relief to Pakistan, so that we can focus our resources on rebuilding.

Produced by Joana Draghici and Niza Lyapa Nondo. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.