The Pradhan Mantri Suraskhit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), a new scheme initiated by the Union Government and launched on Saturday was expected to arrest the dropout of scanning by pregnant women in this constituency.
Narayanakhed constituency is one of the remotest areas in the State where even transport and communication is a big problem. The community health centre (CHC) located in the mandal headquarters is witnessing about 300 to 400 deliveries every month that counts to between 3,600 and 4,800 deliveries an year.
However, about 40 percent of them come with critical health problems which may lead to further complications. The reason for their last minute approach to the government hospital was attributed to not getting scanned during the pregnancy. “Each time the scanning costs about Rs. 500 in addition to other expenditures. Here majority population is below poverty line and they could not afford. Migration is also another problem that is resulting in dropout in scanning,” said Dr. Gayatri, Senior Public Health Officer (SPHO), Narayanakhed, told The Hindu .
Under the PMSMA, all the pregnant women registered with the administration would be offered free scanning on the fifth month and seventh month of their pregnancy, free of cost. Scanning will be conducted 9th of every month at these centres. The programme was formally launched by MLA M. Bhupal Reddy, Dr. Sushmita, Dr. Gayatri and CARPED director MS Chandra.
