In an attempt to enable ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) to ensure seamless antenatal checkups for pregnant women and also monitor the health of new born children, the Ranchi district administration has distributed as many 330 Antenatal Checkup (ANC) kits across 330 health centres in the State capital since September 2.
As per the 2018 statistics released by the National Health Mission, Ranchi has a Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) of 208 while an Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 29. In order to carry out institutional deliveries and lower the MMR as well as IMR rates, the kits have been equipped with a fetal doppler which will further enable the ANMs to identify high risk pregnancy cases and other complications.
The kits sponsored by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) as a part of its CSR initiative also contain a digital hemoglobinometer, blood pressure monitor and a digital weighing machine each for adults and infants. To enable ANMs to easily carry the equipments, bags have also been provided by the district administration.
“The district administration is constantly making efforts of providing all kinds of health facilities to the general public. To ensure this, ANC kits have been distributed for monitoring the health of pregnant women and new born babies. With these kits people living in the remote areas of the State capital can also get their investigations done at regular intervals. It will also help monitor and treat patients suffering from anemia,” said Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan.
To ensure correct use of the high-end equipments ANMs have also been provided with training in all the blocks since July. The digital weighing machines provided in the kits as against the conventional analogue ones will also help in monitoring the exact weight of pregnant women as well as infants.
“The initiative has been taken in order to not just equip the ANM workers but also to bridge the gap between a government and private facility. The digital hemoglobinometers will further enable the centres to identify pregnant women and adolescent girls suffering from low hemoglobin levels. These kits will also enable ANMs to conduct quality VHSND (Village Health Sanitation Nutrition Day) at Anganwadi centres,” said Aspirational District Fellow, Ranchi Pooja Kumari.