Jaffna island women near full term told to move to the mainland for the monsoon

Pregnant women beyond 36 weeks of gestation living on Jaffna’s islands have been advised to move to Jaffna town for the duration of the northeast monsoon, because rough seas may cut them off from a hospital when labour starts.

The advisory covers Delft, Analaitivu and Nainativu, and asks women in the final weeks of pregnancy to stay with relatives in Jaffna town or at Kayts Hospital. It was issued by the Regional Director of Health Services, the Daily Mirror reported.

The reasoning

The islands are reached by boat. Thirty-six weeks is the point from which labour can begin at any time, so a woman past it who needs a hospital during a storm may face a sea crossing that cannot safely be made. Moving her to the mainland before the weather closes in removes the crossing from the problem altogether.

Jaffna is expected to receive 331 mm of rainfall this month.

Where it came from

The advice emerged from a district preparedness meeting held on Wednesday at the District Secretariat, chaired by District Secretary Maruthalingam Pratheeban, convened to plan for disasters caused by the northeast monsoon. The meeting covered disaster risk reduction and public protection measures more broadly; the maternity advisory was one item within it.

The northeast monsoon is the Northern Province’s main rainy season, and island communities in the Jaffna lagoon are among the first to lose routine transport links when it sets in. Health authorities have separately warned of disease risks carried by floodwater, including leptospirosis, as wet-season conditions take hold.

Not reported

The filing does not say how many women are affected, whether transport or accommodation support is being provided to those asked to relocate, how long the advisory runs, or what arrangements exist for women who cannot leave the islands. It does not state the source of the 331 mm forecast or compare it with a seasonal average. No other verified newsroom reachable by this desk carried the advisory; the Daily Mirror report is bylined to its own correspondent, Thevatharsan Sukinthan.