October
22, 2007 Fategarh
Health Centre in Guna, MP
Helps Save Lives by Anil Gulati
Guna,
Madhya Pradesh
Fategarh is a panchayat village about two hours drive on make shift
road from the district headquarters of Guna. The panchayat village
lies in Madhya Pradesh but borders districts of Rajasthan.
The village
has a sector sub health centre. Ninety deliveries, took place in
this health centre, in June 2007, almost all of them are from this
nearby villages. This was not the case a year and half before
(before December 4, 2006, the day when this centre was revitalized).
Before this date, all deliveries used to happen at home and there
were number of maternal deaths in the area, which was revealed by
Maternal and Prenatal Death Inquiry and Response or the social audit
of maternal deaths in the Bamori block, which includes Fategarh
panchayat.
Before
December 2006, the centre offered only immunization services like
any other sub health centre in the state. Heath facilities like
labor room facility for pregnant women of Fategarh and nearby
villages was quite far and accessibility to health services was an
issue. This was one of the reasons for maternal deaths in the area.
It is here that UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) came in and
supported the District administration of Guna, Madhya Pradesh, to
help make this centre a round the clock mother and child care
service delivery centre. UNICEF not only supported the district by
providing them with skilled birth attendants, but also trained them
in integrated management of newborn and childhood illness.
The centre, as of now, caters for eleven villages. Niranjana and
Kamlsa, auxiliary nurses midwives at the centre feel elated when
they see the progress, but they sometimes get exhausted when they
have to undertake seven to eight deliveries a day; thanks to the
increased awareness and schemes by the state.
The centre also undertakes awareness programmes in remote areas and
shares information on various schemes, like Janani Suraksha
Yojana, initiated by the state government to promote
institutional delivery with the community members. This has helped
in creating awareness and demand for the need of the institutional
deliveries.
"I felt much protected and secure when I came here for my delivery"
says Shravani, a mother of three. Her first two deliveries were at
home, but for the third one the village 'dai' got her to the
sub health centre.
Dr Hamid El Bashir, State Representative, UNICEF office for Madhya
Pradesh, adds that children and women lives can be saved and this
can happen with improvement in both access and quality of health
services through such interventions. Fategarh model of
revitalization of the sub centre to provide basic health care
services, including conducting deliveries, has inspired and has been
replicated in six more institutions in Guna
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