BAITADI, Nov 20: Maternal and infant mortality rate has decreased in Baitadi district after 127 maternity service centres of remote areas in the district started providing safe maternity service. 

Public health nurse at the District Health Office, Baitadi, Mamata Joshi, said that maternal and infant mortality rate has now decreased after centres started providing safe maternity service in villages. 

Auxiliary Nurse Midwife at Dehimandau Health Post, Hira Bohara, said that a campaign of saving the life of mother and infant has become successful after the beginning of maternity service in the villages. Bohara further said that the number of women visiting the health institutions for safe maternity service has increased in the recent period. 

She said that allowance provided by the government to those women visiting the health post for the maternity service is one of the reasons behind increasing number of women n the hospital for the service. The government provides Rs 800 for the pregnant woman visiting the health post for check up for fourth times and Rs 2,000 allowance after giving birth to a baby at the health post. 

A total of 28 women have so far received safe maternity service at Dehimandau Health Post from mid-July. A woman can get an allowance if she reaches a hospital within 24 hours even after giving a birth to a baby at her home. 

The prenatal care provided to pregnant women through mobile phone support of Medic Mobile has been useful in keeping track of them. They register the names of the expecting mothers and provide them regular information and updates via text as well as do counseling to them on antenatal care via text and phone talks. 

Medic Mobile is a nonprofit technology company specializing in maternity health (mHealth). Its tools are used by a large organizations supporting thousands of frontline health workers and making an impact in 23 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia through 19,887 trained health workers. 

The female community health volunteers (FCHV) in Baitadi district are making the optmum utilization of the mobile-based services to render a regular prenatal care to the expecting mothers in their district. They also send educational video and audio programmes about prenatal care. 

Once they register the name of the expecting mothers, it is registered in the District Health Office’s statistic. FCHSVs receive SMS as a reminder to offer the test on the pregnant women on forth, sixth, eighth and ninth month of the pregnancy. 

Statics shows that around six women die from preventable pregnancy-related health complications in lack of timely medical intervention. The prenatal care through mobile app service is expected to contribute TO REDUCE child mortality and maternity mortality death. 

So far, 831 FCHVs have received mobile phones to facilitate them in their job, according to the District Health Office, Baitadi. Dilashaini’s FCHV Geeta Bohora shared that the mobile phone and its app has made their job much easier thereby enabling them to render effective prenatal care to the expecting mothers. RSS

 
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