With a view to reducing or putting an end to Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), particularly among the disadvantaged communities in the rural areas, a team of French volunteers affiliated to the non-governmental organisation, Sages Femmes Sans Frontiers (Midwives without Borders), are camping here for the last few days to drive home the message on institutional deliveries.
At Poornankuppam, a village on East Coast Road, the team headed by Delphine Wolff, founder of Midwives without Borders, interacted with pregnant women with the help of an interpreter and explained the risk involved in home deliveries in remote areas.
The team will be camping in Poornankuppam and surrounding villages for the next two days before proceeding to the Kalvarayan Hills in the neighbouring Villupuram district .
“The communities living on the Kalvarayan Hills have a dubious record of having larger number of babies dying within days of delivery and also health problems developed by mothers owing to high levels of malnutrition. Around 90 per cent of women deliver at home owing to physical inaccessibility. This makes it difficult for the health staff to reach out to them and provide proper advice on antenatal care. As a result, the communities have recourse to traditional medicine and local customs that have the most significant negative impact on the prognosis of the women and newborn babies,” Delphine Wolff told The Hindu .
Volunteers from Midwives without Borders and Puducherry-based Community Seva Centre will camp for a day in each village on the Kalvarayan Hills for a week and motivate the people on institutional deliveries.
“Two nurses trained in obstetrics will be posted at the hills round the clock. They will ensure institutional deliveries and also keep a tab on home deliveries,” said A.K. Nehru, director, Community Seva Centre. Staying along with the locals who are extremely poor and lack facilities, the volunteers will also offer prenatal and post-natal consultation , paediatric care and create awareness of the causes of infant and maternal mortality. This message is being conveyed in a very simple manner, Ms. Wolff added.
