Indian maternity infant care provider gets US funding

India, as a part of its Millennium Development Goal (MDP), has set before itself the lofty goal of reducing the maternal mortality by three-quarters from 1990 to 2015. But it failed to reach its target of bringing down the MMR (Maternal Mortality rate) to 109 per 1, 00,000 live births. As of 2015, the maternal mortality rate of India stands at 140 per 1, 00,000 live births, missing the target figure by 31 points. However, states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra had managed to achieve this millennium development goal and few states like Andhra Pradesh have come close to the target figure.

Though the numbers of the women dying from the pregnancy-related complications have reduced, the progress was registered mostly in the urban areas. However, there is not a significant improvement in the non-urban areas. The infrastructure in the village hospitals is still not up to the mark. Most of these hospitals lack the necessary equipment to perform a cesarean if needed. At places where the hospitals are not in the proximity, the pregnant ladies are helped by the midwives to deliver the baby. The assistance of a midwife who has experience in handling the pregnancies might be of some help if the deliveries do not involve any complications. However, to handle a complicated labor, a team of fully equipped well trained professional doctors are necessary to save the lives of both baby and the mother.

SAM (Save A Mother) is an NGO founded by Dr.Shiban Ganju in 2008. Since their inception, they are relentlessly fighting to reduce the maternal death rate and to promote the awareness of the health literacy among the pregnant women. They predominantly work in Uttar Pradesh which is considered to be the place with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. They are now operating in 15 villages in Uttar Pradesh and managed to reduce the maternal mortality rate from 90% to 65%.

SAM (Save A Mother) is an NGO founded by Dr.Shiban Ganju in 2008. Since their inception, they are relentlessly fighting to reduce the maternal death rate and to promote the awareness of the health literacy among the pregnant women. They predominantly are work in Uttar Pradesh which is considered to be the place with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. They are now operating in 15 villages in Uttar Pradesh and managed to reduce the maternal mortality rate from 90% to 65%.

The Swasthya Sakhis establish close relations with the people in their respective localities. Their jobs include conducting the meetings once in a week, to educate the women on the preventive health care and the role of the nutritious food in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The Sakhis keep the track of every pregnant lady in their working area. They encourage them to go for the regular health checkups and help them understand the dosage and how to take the medicines. The volunteers visit the pregnant woman's homes and discuss her health with her family members. If necessary she effectively communicates what needs to be done to improve the health of the lady who is expecting the child. The Sakhis introduces the pregnant women to the local public facilities and ensures the safe delivery of the child.

With the help fo the sandbox foundation, the SAM has extended its operations in the state of Karnataka in the year 2012. The NGO is emulating their tried and tested model on decreasing the maternal mortality in Karnataka simultaneously working the new methods to implement their plans more effectively. A new set of refresher courses is introduced to the recruited volunteers to help them understand the latest developments.

In the month of May, on the mother's day, SAM has organized a fundraiser in Houston, for maternal-infant health in India. This program got a huge response from the people. Many donors have come forward to make contributions to the organization. The event has managed to collect $60,000 and the money raised through this event will be sent to India. Apparently, in less than six minutes $11,000 was raised from the people who attended the event. The event attendees also witnessed the Bollywood numbers by the locals and a solo performance on Adele’s - rolling in the deep, by teen volunteer Ishya Kachru.