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AP PHOTOS: Sidecar ambulances help moms give birth in India

Bhupesh Tiwari from Saathi, non-profit organisation, poses with a first motorbike ambulance, a two-wheeler with a sidecar consisting of a hospital bed on wheels, which he had designed in 2014 with the support of UNICEF, in Kodagoan in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Tribals walk back to their villages after visiting a weekly market, where hundreds gather from far-flung villages to buy basics, in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 16, 2022. Motorbike ambulances are helping pregnant women and very sick patients to reach hospitals in Naryanpur district, in central India's Chhattisgarh state. Many of the heavily forested district's villages are nearly inaccessible, often miles away from motorable roads and connected only by rough paths spanning over streams and hills. The state's health system has struggled to reach remote villages that can be ten miles or more from roads. The lack of roads often forces villagers to resort to makeshift palanquins to transport the very sick. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Tribal women walk back to their villages through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," after visiting a weekly market, where hundreds gather from far-flung villages to buy basics, in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 16, 2022. Motorbike ambulances are helping pregnant women and very sick patients to reach hospitals in Naryanpur district, in central India's Chhattisgarh state. Many of the heavily forested district's villages are nearly inaccessible, often miles away from motorable roads and connected only by rough paths spanning over streams and hills. The state's health system has struggled to reach remote villages that can be ten miles or more from roads. The lack of roads often forces villagers to resort to makeshift palanquins to transport the very sick. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Tribal men participate in cockfighting contest at a weekly market, where hundreds gather from far-flung villages to buy basics or to attend the keenly contested cockfighting tournament, in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 16, 2022. Motorbike ambulances are helping pregnant women and very sick patients to reach hospitals in Naryanpur district, in central India's Chhattisgarh state. Many of the heavily forested district's villages are nearly inaccessible, often miles away from motorable roads and connected only by rough paths spanning over streams and hills. The state's health system has struggled to reach remote villages that can be ten miles or more from roads. The lack of roads often forces villagers to resort to makeshift palanquins to transport the very sick. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Government health workers screen people for diseases like diabetes and malaria at a weekly market, where hundreds gather from far-flung villages to buy basics, in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 16, 2022. Motorbike ambulances are helping pregnant women and very sick patients to reach hospitals in Naryanpur district, in central India's Chhattisgarh state. Many of the heavily forested district's villages are nearly inaccessible, often miles away from motorable roads and connected only by rough paths spanning over streams and hills. The state's health system has struggled to reach remote villages that can be ten miles or more from roads. The lack of roads often forces villagers to resort to makeshift palanquins to transport the very sick. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) A nurse checks Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine months pregnant woman, as a health worker Basanti Warda, left, holds Poyam's one-year-old son Dilesh at a hospital in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 16, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) A paramedic takes blood samples of Phagni Poyam, 23, at a hospital in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Phagni Poyam, 23, centre right, sits on a bench as she waits for her turn to get checked up at a hospital in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Basanti Warda, left, a health worker, holds one-year-old Dilesh as his mother Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine months pregnant woman, disembarks from a motorbike ambulance as she arrives for a checkup at a hospital in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 16, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Basanti Warda, right, who works at an early referral center, plays with one-year-old Dilesh, as his mother Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine months pregnant woman, looks on inside an early referral center in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine months pregnant woman and her son sit inside an early referral center in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Lata Netam, a health worker, pushes a motorbike ambulance carrying Phagni Poyam and her son, up a steep slope through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," on their way to a health centre, near Kodoli, a remote village in Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Villagers, carrying a sick man in a makeshift palanquin, cross a stream through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," on their way to a nearest health center, some 20 kilometers away near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. Motorbike ambulances are helping pregnant women and very sick patients to reach hospitals in Naryanpur district, in central India's Chhattisgarh state. Many of the heavily forested district's villages are nearly inaccessible, often miles away from motorable roads and connected only by rough paths spanning over streams and hills. The state's health system has struggled to reach remote villages that can be ten miles or more from roads. The lack of roads often forces villagers to resort to makeshift palanquins to transport the very sick. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine months pregnant woman, left, and other health workers look on as motorbike ambulance driver, Sukhram Vadde, 24, remove boulders from rocky riverbed for the ambulance to pass through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," near Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Lata Netam, right, a health worker, holds Dilesh son of Phagni Poyam, who is expecting a baby as they disembark from the ambulance before crossing a stream through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," on their way to a health centre, near Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine months pregnant woman and her son sit inside a motorbike ambulance outside her home in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Phagni Poyam, 23, centre, a nine month pregnant woman carries her one-year-old son Dilesh, as she leaves her home to reach a health centre, in an awaiting motorbike ambulance in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine months pregnant woman, dresses her one-year-old boy, Dilesh, as they get ready to shift to a health center in a motorbike ambulance in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Motorbike ambulance driver, Sukhram Vadde, left, health worker, Lata Netam, centre, and a villager digs a steep riverbank to make a road for a motorbike ambulance through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," to reach a pregnant woman in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Health workers with the help of two passersby physically lift the motorbike ambulance, off the river bed onto the muddy and steep riverbank through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," to reach a pregnant woman in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Lata Netam, a health worker, unsuccessfully tries to push a motorbike ambulance, up a steep riverbank through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," to reach a pregnant woman in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Lata Netam, a health worker, tries to remove a boulder as Sukhram Vadde, 24, awaits on a motorbike ambulance, a two-wheeler with a sidecar consisting of a hospital bed on wheels, to cross a stream through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," to reach a pregnant woman in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Sukhram Vadde, 24, drives a motorbike ambulance, a two-wheeler with a sidecar consisting of a hospital bed on wheels, across a stream through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," to reach a pregnant woman in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) A motorbike ambulance, a two-wheeler with a sidecar consisting of a hospital bed on wheels, travels on a dirt road through Abhujmarh, or "the unknown hills," to reach a pregnant woman in Kodoli, a remote village near Orchha in central India's Chhattisgarh state, Nov. 15, 2022. These ambulances, first deployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, routinely visit doctors if needed until they give birth. Since then the number of babies born in hospitals has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)