Pregnant woman dies in bicycle accident while going to antenatal

A PREGNANT woman of Shibuyunji District in Central Province has died instantly after falling off a bicycle while her husband was cycling her to antenatal.

Martha Chuundu of Mangwala village in Nampundwe was eight months pregnant when she lost her life in the accident on May 17.

Nampundwe ward councilor Rachel Mubita, Shakemba ward headman, and a relative to the deceased confirmed the incident in different interviews with the Zambia Daily Mail.

According to the paper, a relative to the victim, Idah Chuundu, said on the material day, the deceased left home with her husband to Nampundwe Rural Health Center which is just few meters from her home.

She said she complained of being tired on that particular day, and her husband decided to take her to the clinic on his bicycle.

“The two left home smiling and she said goodbye to me and, jokingly, she said she will come back home with something very nice for me.

“After 30 minutes, I received information that she fell off the bicycle at [a place] near where a lot of trucks are usually parked, and then she was rushed to the clinic,” she said.

Chuulu said she did not take the information seriously because she had also fallen off a bicycle and did not sustain injuries.

“I received another call from my brother in- law saying my sister died and that she fell off the bicycle and became unconscious. She was pronounced dead at the clinic by medical personnel upon arrival,” she said.

Chuundu has described the death of her sister as shocking and untimely.

She said the family was excited that their relative was expecting her second child; instead, two lives have been lost in a blink of an eye.

And the civic leader, Mubita, has described the incident as unfortunate and shocking.

She said after she received information that the victim had died after falling off a bicycle, she rushed to the hospital were she discovered that the deceased’s body was already deposited in the mortuary.

Mubita said medical personnel informed her that the woman could have died due to the impact due to the fall, especially that she was pregnant.

She said this was the first time the area was recording such an incident, saying people in the area mostly use bicycles as a form of transport and many do fall from bicycles but without any serious injuries.

Mubita appealed to residents in the area to be cautious whenever they are riding their bicycles to avoid similar incidents.

Kalemba May 29, 2023