Helicopter rescues offer lifeline to teenage mothers in Nepal’s remote hills

Emergency airlifts are saving the lives of teenage mothers and newborns in remote districts, where difficult terrain and limited health facilities often turn childbirth into a life-threatening ordeal.

For 19-year-old Sushila Roka of ward 14 in Musikot Municipality, Rukum West, the morning of June 4 became the most difficult day of her life. Her family had been preparing to welcome her first child. But as her labour pains intensified, excitement quickly turned into fear. Sushila, who became pregnant at a young age, developed serious complications.