Sir: Women in rural communities rarely get adequate healthcare. Pregnant women are worse off still. Pakistan has a high female mortality rate for women who are giving birth. They do not have access to properly qualified doctors and nurses who can aid them in the delivery of their babies. They do not get the right kind of post-delivery care that every new mother should obtain. They are usually left in the hands of ill-trained midwives who botch up their natural and emergency deliveries. Nobody thinks of helping these women. The government has to step up plans (if any) to upgrade hospitals and other medical facilities in rural areas so that pregnant woman can get better quality healthcare and doctors to attend to them. ALEENA QAYOOM Lahore