Born in the forest: the women giving birth alone in the Kashmiri mountains

"Mist clung to the forest, and the ground was slick beneath the feet of the caravan of about 70 pastoralists who had stopped to camp together the previous night. A week from her due date, she had been travelling on horseback and assumed the discomfort she felt was fatigue until pain tore through her body. There was no clinic, no nurse, no doctor, Deader, 23, says. Only her mother and a midwife, Saira Begum, were with her in a damp canvas tent, whispering prayers."

"Hours after her son was born, and still weak and bleeding, Fatima had to ride again, her baby carefully tied to the horse with her, as the group's journey continued through dense forest, home to tigers and bears. The 3,500-metre-high Pir Panjal pass, also called Peer Ki Gali, connects the Jammu region to the Kashmir valley via the centuries-old Mughal Road, and each year when the snow melts, nearly a million nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal herders set out with their goats, sheep and horses."

"For those who are pregnant during the migration, heavy loads still have to be carried, and rest found in tents pitched on wet ground. Babies are born under trees, by riverbanks or in forest shelters. Some women give birth after days without a proper meal. Those who make it to district hospitals often arrive exhausted, anaemic or suffering from an infection."

Each spring nearly a million Gujjar and Bakarwal herders trek the Mughal Road across the 3,500m Pir Panjal pass with livestock, journeys lasting weeks or months. Pregnant women travel on horseback, carry heavy loads, and rest in wet tents; many give birth in forests, by riverbanks or in shelters without trained medical staff. Some women experience labour while en route and must continue riding hours after delivery. Early marriage and malnutrition compound risks: girls sometimes give birth as teenagers and arrive at district hospitals exhausted, anaemic or with infections. Limited access to clinics and emergency care endangers mothers and newborns during migration.

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