Saving Young Mothers of India

India is the second most populous country in the world and has fast changing socio-political-demographic patterns that have been drawing global attention in recent years. Sadly, India also accounts for the maximum number of maternal deaths in the world.

Childbirth is an incredible moment in a woman’s life; however, in India, literacy and social issues are major contributing factors that have led to high maternal deaths. More often than not, girls are married at a young age where they have no or very little knowledge about early pregnancy. In a country where every 10 minutes a mother dies due to childbirth or pregnancy complication, Save A Mother (SAM) has succeeded in reducing maternal mortality by 90% in the areas they have served.

Save A Mother has hundreds of trained community workers called Swasthya Sakhis who tirelessly work towards educating women and girls in rural regions about the importance of health, nutrition, hygiene, ante-natal care and immunization. It has been noted that most health problems in rural India do not need doctors – they simply need better hygiene practices, clean water, nutrition and positive health seeking behaviour.

With a grant from Deshpande Foundation, Save A Mother was able to expand their operation in Karnataka. Through the Sandbox, SAM has been able to effectively recruit women folk who speak the local language and dialect and have the right network to reach out to the local population which is a sustainable way to spread literacy and maintain the health status of a community.

In rural India, access to healthcare, specifically during delivery remains an issue which is yet to be resolved but few simple interventions can reduce the mortality by 75-90%. Save a Mother’s Arogya Sakhis do not replace public health workers but supplements them and educates young pregnant women in prenatal care, postnatal care and encourage an institutional delivery.