A 20-year-old woman who delivered a baby girl at a rented home in Kozhikode in 2024 is at the vortex of a heated debate in Kerala. The Kozhikode City Corporation rejected an application filed by Ashna Jasmine, who hails from Wayanad and her husband Sharafath Ali to register the birth of their baby. The registration wing of the Corporation submitted a report citing that the application was rejected because there was no evidence of delivery at home.

As per the registration rules, the birth should be reported online within 21 days of the birth. The Aadhaar number of the parents and informant needs to be added to the application. The application can be filed for all births in households, institutions, and vehicles. For home births, the head of the household/senior member/next of kin should report the birth.

The report submitted by the Corporation, and seen by Onmanorama, shows that the birth happened at 6.20 am on November 2, 2024. An application for a birth certificate was received the same day. The preliminary inquiry by the public health inspector (PHI) showed that no birth had happened in the house on the given date. A probe was again initiated, and the report by the PHI based on a field-level inquiry said that no birth was recorded in the house.

The report further noted that house-visit records by ASHA workers in the area in August 2024 did not mention a pregnant woman in the house. The report also said that the members of the house didn't inform the health workers about the pregnant woman. Neighbours also said they were ignorant about a delivery at home. Based on these findings, the application was rejected.
After the Corporation rejected their application, the parents filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, which has sent notices to the PHI and  ASHA worker.

No medication
Ashna and Sharafath, who got married in January 2024, are diploma holders in acupuncture therapy. Ashna denied reports that she had preferred delivery at home. "I would experience severe pain during my pregnancy, and consultation was going on at a private hospital. The doctor prescribed medicines, but I refused to take them because we practise acupuncture. We had decided that whenever I experienced labour pain, I would go to the hospital. On November 2, I felt a sudden pain, I vomited, and I felt like a baby was coming out. My husband was downstairs, and I called him over the phone. We delivered the baby. The (umbilical) cord was cut using a blade. It is not a hard object like a rope; the moment the blade was placed, it was severed. There is no need to make a hue and cry over the use of the blade," said Ashna. She said that she didn't feel the need to visit a hospital, and on November 9, she went to Wayanad for post-natal care at an Ayurvedic centre.

The baby has not been taken to the hospital to date, said Ashna, and has not been vaccinated. "It's our personal choice," she said. Ashna's mother, Safiya, said that Ashna had been vaccinated since childhood. "She had received vaccines as a child, the Covid vaccine was also given to her. But our family has been following acupuncture for the last three years, and we don't take medicines. If they don't want the child to be vaccinated, it is their call," said Safiya, adding that they had planned to be hospitalised for delivery, and the pain came suddenly, and Ashna gave birth at home.

According to Ashna, the health staff during the field visit failed to collect details of family members and entered the details incorrectly. She said that she gave birth around 11.30 am on November 2, however the civic body's report shows the time of birth as 6.20 am.

Onmanorama spoke to Corporation authorities and ASHA workers in the area, who reiterated that they couldn't find any conclusive evidence establishing that Ashna gave birth at home. "We have our field diaries with entries which show that the family never gave details of members or about a pregnant woman," a health worker said.

KT Sushaj, ward councillor, said that he had accompanied the officials to the rented residence of Ashna when the Corporation team visited the place as part of an inquiry. "We were concerned about the child's health. The health staff said the family didn't show any medical records of hospital visits. We called the medical officer, and the health team checked on the woman and the baby. They were advised to go to the hospital the next day. But we came to know that the mother and the child were shifted to Wayanad," said Sushaj.

Ashna and Sharafath, who now works at a travel agency, pursued diplomas in acupuncture at a centre run by Suneer, who calls himself an acupuncture specialist. He said that acupuncture is a drug-less therapy. "I have four children, and none of them are vaccinated. My wife delivered the first two children at the government hospital and the other two at home. There is no need for medicines," he said.

Health department data shows that Kerala recorded 2,931 home deliveries between 2019-20 and 2024 (till September). Eighteen neonatal deaths were recorded during home births, and two maternal deaths were registered between 2020 and 2024, as per an RTI response received by Kulathur Jaisingh. Data on live births by type of attention in Kerala for 2023 shows that deliveries attended by relatives/others and traditional birth attendants account for only 0.95 per cent of total births in the state. In 2022, it was 0.87 per cent.