Transforming Maternal Healthcare In Rural India: A Success Story From Jharkhand

The maternal healthcare scenario in rural India has witnessed a major transition in recent years. According to UNICEF, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India, based on the National Sample Registration System (SRS) data, decreased by 34 per cent in 2020. This could be attributed to the collaborative efforts between Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations, which have synergised to make quality health services more accessible, especially in rural communities.

An initiative in West Singhbhum, Jharkhand is bringing a much-needed shift in rural maternal healthcare is the Public Policy in Action (PPIA) by Transform Rural India (TRI). The primary aim of the programme is to ensure easier policy implementation through young citizens who are India's future policymakers. A cadre of young professionals is strategically deployed to live and work within rural communities after assessing key issues. The major mission of these PPIA fellows is to work closely with local self-government departments to mitigate the challenges faced by rural India in education, health and agriculture. They then develop tailor-made grassroots solutions to address the fault lines.

“After identifying maternal healthcare for rural women as a major concern, we brainstormed solutions to tackle the related challenges. That is how the idea of Antenatal Check Up (ANC) Corners in Anganwadi Centres across West Singhbhum was conceived,” Abhijeet Kumar, PPIA Fellow, West Singhbhum

Antenatal care is important to ensure that a woman has a safe pregnancy and allows for screening of preeclampsia, and foetal abnormalities while suggesting prevention strategies. “We mainly focus on identifying areas that lack ANC services at the village level across the district of West Singhbhum. The next step was designing the ANC Corners and procuring necessary medical equipment, tools such as basic inspection beds, step tools, and bedside folding screens,” Pallav Jain, PPIA Fellow, West Singhbhum .

The fellows also worked in close association with relevant stakeholders who provided support throughout the implementation process. “We want to provide ANC services to pregnant and lactating mothers directly at the village level, thereby reducing the need for them to visit health sub-centres. By setting up the ANC Corners in Anganwadi centres, we were also able to ensure easy accessibility to the villagers,” says Pallav Jain, PPIA Fellow, West Singhbhum

The success of ANC Corners, according to the PPIA fellows, is the result of a collaborative effort between the district administration, TRI and others who provided support through CSR initiatives. Further, the significant achievements of these projects are visible in the encouraging statistics gathered during 2022-23. The data from this project in West Singhbhum suggests that a total of 45,135 pregnant women from rural villages registered for ANC in 2022-23. Among them, 39,785 check-ups were conducted within the first trimester of pregnancy. Out of the total, 41,282 pregnant women received four or more ANC check-ups during the pregnancy period. Along with prenatal care, ANC corners also helped address issues like anaemia and ultimately contributed to reducing Maternal Mortality Rate and Infant Mortality Rates. During the same period, 41,274 pregnant women underwent haemoglobin testing four or more times. The PPIA fellows continue to organise workshops, awareness drives, and health camps to extend help and spread potentially life-saving information in India's rural pockets.

The Public Policy in Action (PPiA) Praxis Residency Programme, under which many other such stories of grassroots change are taking place is a two-year certificate course providing an opportunity for learners from diverse academic and professional backgrounds to actively participate in India’s growth story by supporting critical high impact public programmes that can transform the lives of the most marginalised communities in rural India.