The People's Council of Lao Cai province has just issued a Resolution regulating the level of food support for poor households; ethnic minorities in areas with special difficulties when receiving inpatient treatment and the level of support for women in poor households giving birth at public health facilities in the area.
Accordingly, the above subjects will be supported with food expenses when receiving inpatient treatment at public health facilities at the rate of 75,000 VND/sive/day; Support of 400,000 VND/sive/ borrowing. The Resolution is applied from January 1, 2026, with funding from the provincial budget.
The leader of Lao Cai Department of Health said that the rate of poor women in mountainous communes and ethnic minorities giving birth at home is still high. The cost of giving birth and food for inpatient treatment are their biggest concerns. Therefore, the new policy will help people feel secure going to the hospital to give birth, minimizing obstetric complications.
A typical regrettable case occurred in February 2025, when the mother C.M.D (37 years old, Dao ethnic group, in Lao Cai) died 5 hours after giving birth to her 8th child at home.
According to the family, seeing the pregnant woman C.M.D having cluster abdominal pain and discharging vaginal fluid, the husband had her sit next to the fire to help her give birth.
After giving birth, the baby's navel was tied with a needle and the navel was cut with a used bladeslide. However, the mother's vaginal cavity bleeding profusely, leading to her death on the way to the emergency room.
Doctor Nguyen Van Son - Head of Ban Lien Health Station shared - immediately after the Resolution was disseminated, many pregnant women from poor households proactively registered to give birth at the hospital.
Perceptional change is happening. They are waiting for the policy to take effect to receive support, but the spirit of safe childbirth has been formed, said Dr. Son.
In a smoke-filled wooden house in Ta Phin commune, Ms. Sung Thi Hoa (27 years old, poor family) who is 6 months pregnant confided: A few times ago, I ran out of money and didn't have money to bring, so my husband had to borrow a few hundred thousand to take my wife to the health station to give birth.
"Now that I heard that in early 2026, there will be a support of 400,000 VND for poor women born at public health facilities, I was very happy. For poor people like us, this amount of money helps reduce the economic burden a lot," said the H'Mong woman.
Meanwhile, when asked about the incident, Ms. Ly Thi May (32 years old, in Bac Ha, pregnant for the 7th month) briefly replied: "From next year, I will not give birth at home anymore. Poor but I want my child to be born healthy. Now that the state has supported it, it is very good.
Mr. Phan Dang Toan - Delegate of Lao Cai Provincial People's Council said: The Resolution was built based on the direct reflection of the highland communes.
"Although the support is not large, it is in line with the essential needs of the people. More importantly, this policy will help poor women out of the risk zone when giving birth at home - the cause of many obstetric complications in recent times," said Mr. Phan Dang Toan.
