India, Sept. 14 -- This monsoon season, there have been severe floods in many parts of India and serious waterlogging in cities and towns. An often-neglected aspect of such floods - and the resulting disruption of sanitation - is its effect on women and girls. Efforts to beef up water, sanitation/hygiene, and health facilities most often do not factor in climate-resilient infrastructure and services, keeping the specific needs of women in mind. Health facilities become inaccessible or are ill-equipped for women needing prenatal and post-natal care. The recent floods across several districts in Bihar, for example, have severely disrupted maternal health services. To its credit, the health department did try to provide boat ambulances for pregnant women, but such services are also hit during challenging times. Ante-natal care in many affected villages has been alarmingly poor. In some districts such as Begusarai, medical camps were set up and delivery kits prepared in advance. In addition, in many districts, volunteers have been a support system for ASHAs in locating pregnant women and assisting them to reach the nearest health camp. There is, however, a serious shortage of medical staff and lack of referral for high-risk pregnancies in remote flood-hit areas. Jaymala Kumari, a resident of Pipariya Diyara village in Lakhisarai, recalled the anxiety she felt during her pregnancy, especially about reaching a health facility for delivery in the middle of the floods. The health camp in her village came as a lifeline. She was examined at the camp and later facilitated to reach the primary health centre, where she safely delivered a healthy baby. On the other hand, Manju Devi from Simaria village in Begusarai said the floods have made life extremely difficult, and while they are often called to health camps, services are not consistently available. Some areas where preparations were made in advance still failed as there were sudden variations in the floodwaters rising. In addition, soil erosion had also made many villages inaccessible. Then there is the problem of out of pocket expenditure which flood affected villagers were not able to bear, thanks to breaks in jobs and inability to access funds from banks. Sudha Jha, an obstetrician and gynaecologist from Sitamarhi, stresses the need for proper communication with beneficiaries is critical in flood-affected areas. Every pregnant woman should remain in touch with doctors, and when reaching facilities is difficult, teleconsultation must be promoted as a vital option. She says water contamination is one of the biggest risks during floods. There could be various solutions like increasing the use of mobile health care apps or increasing the number of mobile clinics. But the more permanent and workable solution would be to build flood resistant infrastructure in areas prone to flooding. Health workers should also be trained in the particular challenges they will face in accessing and imparting treatment in flood affected areas. Women should be allowed to express their own needs before drawing up programmes to deal with their health issues during natural calamities like floods. At present, many plans and schemes do not even factor in gender or gender-specific needs, especially those relating to maternal health. Women have to be made active participants in their own health needs, something that is missing in most states at the moment....