Sundargarh, October 14, 2022: “Few days before delivery, I was shifted from home to the Maa Gruha at Poigaon where my health was regularly monitored. I was later taken to the hospital at the right time and I delivered a healthy baby. On doctor’s advice, I was kept at the Maa Gruha for over a week for post-delivery care,” said Basanti Dehuri, a resident of Mahulpada village in Lahunipada block of Sundargarh district.
“I was worried about my delivery since my house is a bit far from the hospital. I heaved a sigh of relief after my village ASHA and Anganwadi Didis counseled me and took me to the Maa Gruha at Khatkurbahal,” said Anima Lakra, an expectant mother from Kahupani village in Kutra block of the district.
Like Basanti Dehuri and Anima Lakra, expectant mothers from various hard-to-reach areas in Odisha are being ensured care and safe motherhood at Maa Gruha (Maternity Waiting Home) set up by the state Govt. at various strategic locations. This has helped in ensuring calibrated care and treatment for pregnant women, lactating mothers and newborns, while promoting institutional delivery.
As per the data available with the district health officials, in the last 9 months (January-September, 2022), pre & post-natal care services has been extended to 6,169 mothers at 20 Maa Gruhas located at various places in Sundargarh. Of them, 3,809 were expectant mothers, while 2,360 were lactating mothers.
Being a forested district, dotted with towering hills, ravines, perennial rivers and a web of rivulets, several places in Sundargarh are fraught with geographical barriers. Therefore, timely transportation of expectant mothers in hard-to-reach areas often poses a big challenge. The setting up of Maa Gruhas by the District Administration has offered a tangible solution to the impediments.
As part of the calibrated healthcare strategy, expectant mothers from hard-to-reach areas are shifted to Maa Gruhas which have been set up in the vicinity of Government Hospitals, well before the expected date of delivery. At Maa Gruha, the beneficiaries are given nutritious food, made to do the required physical exercises under expert supervision, while their health is monitored regularly. The staff at the Maa Gruhas facilitate in the shifting of expectant mothers to the designated hospital when the delivery time approaches.
“We brief expectant mothers and their family members about the healthcare services available at Maa Gruha. We counsel and help them to shift the mother to the Maa Gruha near the village well before delivery,” said ASHA worker Anita Lakra from Kandhabahal village in Kutra block.
