Think you had a tough time giving birth? This mother had to trek for nine days in -35C just to get to hospital… then carry her baby all the way back along a frozen river

The family travelled for nine days, 45miles down the frozen river Chadar at an altitude of 11,123 ft and in freezing temperatures of -35C, with a small child and a newborn baby. Walking for eight hours a day, they were sometimes forced to wade through icy water and snow after the cold weather blocked the roads from Ladakh to the hospital in Lingshed.

The photos were captured by photographer Tim Vollmer from Iceland who was trekking up the Chadar with his friends when he spotted the weather-beaten family. As there is no doctor or hospital facility in the village where the family live, they were forced to travel on foot down river Chadar, at an altitude of 11,123ft, for nine days – and then make the same journey back when the baby was born. 

Peep more photos when you continue

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