Telephonic assistance fills gap in routine prenatal check-ups

Aurangabad: The routine monthly check-ups of pregnant women and new mothers at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and the district civil hospital are being avoided in view of nationwide lockdown.
However, a telephonic assistance service run by an NGO in association with government hospitals is bridging the gap in routine visits to the hospital.
According to Shrinivas Gadappa, the head of department of obstetrics and gynaecology GMCH, according to the Government of India, pregnant women require four routine check ups i.e. two visits in first three months, one visit during three-six months and one visit during six-nine months. “However, most women are unaware about this and they visit the hospitals on a weekly basis. We are not entertaining such visits and we are telling them to come only when required,” Gadappa said.
While the routine check-ups are being avoided, the mMitra service run by NGO Armman is filling up the gap through its telephonic counselling service to pregnant women enrolled at GMCH and district civil hospital. According to Armman founder and urogynecologist Aparna Hegde, on a usual day, the mMitra gives voice calls to all the women enrolled in the hospital during their prenatal and postnatal period.
In addition, SMSes are sent to women and they are also connected to the hospital supervisor appointed at each of the mMitra associated hospitals.
“However, during lockdown, mMitra is also providing virtual OPD to pregnant women and new mothers,” Hegde said.