When a mother went into a dangerous labor during a rainstorm, nurse Rita Dhungana refused to give up on her, drawing on her training and a helpline to senior doctors to bring both mother and baby through safely.

Through a five-hour ambulance ride on washed-out monsoon roads, nurse Kripa stayed at Sita's side, guided by a specialist on the phone and the training that told her exactly what to do.

A newly equipped neonatal care unit at Ilam District Hospital means families no longer have to travel long distances for the specialized newborn care their babies need.

Facing a dangerous delivery she'd never encountered before, nurse Dhanmaya reached a senior gynecologist by phone who guided her, step by step, to bring Sunin and her baby safely through.

At a renovated birthing center in the hills of Ilam, mothers like Tulachan now arrive with confidence, part of a quiet shift in how her whole community thinks about giving birth.

In one Ilam community, residents were so determined to have a proper birthing center that they raised their share of the cost from their own pockets, and turned a long-neglected health post into a model facility.