DHAKA, May 28, 2024 (BSS) - Afrin Ara joined  Begumpur Union Health and Family Welfare Center of Chuadanga Sadar Upazila as health worker on April 11, 2013. There were no facilities for normal delivery in the center then.  
 
Afrin used to conduct natural delivery of pregnant women only by her training experiences over the last 10 years.  She has done 2,200 normal deliveries of pregnant women in this period. Everyday pregnant women from different villages of the upazila rush to the health center for her advice and services.
 
Afrin delineated a record on how she continued to promote natural delivery where the trend of caesarean delivery is on the rise. In July 2014, a pregnant woman named Maryam came to the health center in a critical condition. Afrin performed a normal delivery using only her training experience though there were no necessary facilities for normal delivery.
  
The situation, she said, was so worse that breathing had to be normalized by putting the face on the mouth of the newborn. After 12 hours, mother and newborn were sent home in good condition. This incident had spread her reputation along with her nick name 'Health Apa' -- Afrin -- among the people of the area. 
 
"And this is how pregnant women began to visit here regularly and they are provided with necessary medicines along with normal delivery," Afrin said. 
 
The trust of common people to this health center has increased over the last few years and its worker Afrin has become the favorite to pregnant women due to her sincere efforts. However, she does not want to take this credit. Rather said she along with all her colleagues work together for safe delivery. No maternal death had been reported so far, she added. 
 
Suraiya Begum, wife of Abdul Alim of Dihi village, who came to the health center for post-natal care, said that when she took her daughter-in-law to a clinic in the city last February, the doctor said that the fetus was in an abnormal condition. Emergency surgery is required, but my daughter-in-law was afraid of it. On the advice of a local midwife, she was taken to this health center and the delivery was normal without any complications," Afrin said. 
 
At least 30-35 women of different ages visit the health center almost every day. Afrin gives them instructions on health awareness. 

According to Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2022 conducted by the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), the incidence of seizures increased from 34 percent to 45 percent in 2022 compared to 2017. 
 
In 2011, C-section delivery rate was 18 percent, according to the survey. In 2014, this rate increased to 24 percent. It was 34 percent in 2017-18 and 45 percent in 2022. In 2022, 36 percent of deliveries in government hospitals were by C-section. In private hospitals, the rate is 83 percent.  
 
Public health expert Dr. Nazneen Akhter said if complications arise during childbirth, an alternative to normal delivery is arranged through surgery. This is a cesarean or c-section. There is no denying that the trend of giving birth in this way is increasing day by day in Bangladesh. 
 
"Unnecessary caesarean section, however, can put the mother and newborn at risk," he said. 
 
Alamgir Hossain, deputy assistant community medical officer of the center,
said that pregnant women used to come to this health center during the Corona pandemic thinking of it as a place of trust despite the risks and returned with smiling faces. Afrin did not enjoy optional leave and even earned leave since her joining to the health center considering the  pregnant women who come here with agony. 
 
"After a normal delivery, when a mother walks to the car with a newborn baby in her lap, it makes me happy. Smile appears on the mother's face while handing over the newborn and through which I forget my tiredness," Afrin added. 
 
She got many awards at the district and upazila levels for her contribution to healthcare. "In fact, I don't work for rewards. However, it's makes me happy when I receive an award. I want to render my service like this in the future," she said.