KANDHKOT: The birth of two children - named ‘Barish’ (rain) and ‘Sailaab’ (floods) - have kept hope afloat in the flood-hit village of Ramdas in Kandhkot, with their mothers confident that the newborns would keep calamities at bay.

However, for them them to be a good omen that their mothers hope them to be, the 10-day old infants need post-natal care that is sorely missing in an area where the health facilities were nearly non-existent even before the ‘unprecedented rain and floods’.

Both children were unwell and in immediate need of medical attention.

Najma, 36, told Aaj News that the baby was delivered without the help of a gynaecologist or midwife in the flood affected area. Sailaab is Najma’s third child.

Soma, who is only 18, delivered her baby girl in similar circumstances.

The two mothers are members of the minority Hindu community of the area and gave birth a few hours apart ten days ago.

With most people’s houses, belongings and livelihood washed away or submerged, the new mothers as with their infants need medical supplies, proper nourishment and nutrition. They also need protection against various outbreaks including gastroentritis and malaria. The community has appealed to the Sindh government and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for assistance.

While rains and more floods remain a concern, the mothers see the births in such adverse circumstances portentous.

Najma, who was lying on the charpoy (bed), said that she named her baby Sailaab because her area was drowning in the floodwater. “When there will be a risk of flood, I will call my son to stop it,” she said.

Soma said that she chose to call her baby girl Baarish as the infant was born during rain. “Baarish is my daughter and if it rains then I will call my daughter to stop it.”

While Soma was in good health, her baby is need of medical assistance. “Baarish is having concussions,” she said,

“Yes, the baby was born on a day when it rained a lot,” Najma told Aaj News. She said the labour pains worried her parents to such an extent that they left to fetch a midwife despite the flood situation.

“It was during this commotion that I fell. It led to an increase in palpitations…and I gave birth to the boy.”

The two families have decided to get the two infant married when they come of age.

Kashmore, where Kandhkot lies, is among the 23 calamity-hit districts of Sindh. As many as 14,563,770 people have been affected by floods triggered by heavy rains. The countrywide death toll stands at 1,391, including 577 in Sindh.

At least 47,000 women were pregnant in shelter camps in Sindh, Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said on September 4. The minister said hundreds of thousands of people have contracted various diseases after the floods.

“More than 134,000 cases of diarrhoea and 44,000 cases of malaria have been reported in Sindh.”

Such statistics came days after the United Nations Population Fund said that at least 650,000 pregnant women, of whom 73,000 were expected to deliver this month, in the flood-affected areas were in dire need of maternal health services.