MORIGAON, India. A blue tarp protected a mother and her newborn daughter from the incessant rain during their boat trip. Jahanara Khatoon, 25, had just given birth on the boat on her way to a health center, surrounded by the raging waters of the Brahmaputra River.
“I am very happy,” said her husband, Kamaluddin, who was also on the boat. “My wife wanted a boy, but Allah has given me a girl and I am very satisfied. “I don’t want to have more children.”
The couple had abandoned their home on Phuliamari Char, one of the islands in the river, after it was inundated by floods, and took shelter on a nearby island known as Chars.
Increased rainfall in the region, attributed to climate change, has made the Brahmaputra River, already known for its powerful and unpredictable flow, even more dangerous for those who live near it or on the more than 2,000 islands that comprise it. .
India, and the state of Assam in particular, is seen as one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change due to increasingly intense rains and flooding, according to a report 2021 report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a climate think tank based in New Delhi.
Khatoon and Kamaluddin earn their living as farmers on their island in the Morigaon district of Assam state.
A medical team was visiting flooded Chars to help those who needed medical help, especially pregnant women. The team convinced Khatoon to travel with them to the nearest medical center across the river.
The baby couldn’t wait for Khatoon to arrive at the health center. As labor progressed, the ship’s team quickly got to work, raising a tarp to protect them from the rain while they helped with the delivery.
After 10 minutes, the baby emerged amidst screams of celebration.
Diluwara Begum, an auxiliary nurse and midwife, picked up the newborn and whispered prayers in her ear.
“This was the first time I helped deliver a baby on a boat. It was a very different feeling. “It feels good,” she said.
The family named the baby Karima, which means “give.”
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