2018 saw 2,650 births under Maherghar scheme in Maharashtra’s tribal areas

Health Minister Eknath Shinde said the rate of maternal mortality and neonatal mortality has declined due to the scheme. The scheme is offered in 90 primary health centres in remote areas of Palghar, Nandurbar, Nashik, Nanded, Yavatmal, Amravati, Gondiya, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts. The most number of centres — 32 — are in Gadchiroli, where women avoid hospital visits, followed by Palghar (13) and Nandurbar (10).

Since ambulances take too long to reach tribal areas, pregnant women are often forced to deliver at home, officials with the National Health Mission (NHM) said. Mortality is noted in complicated cases especially with diabetic and hypertensive patients.

In cases requiring Caesarean section, the pregnant patient is transferred to more equipped centres for surgery. “We are using primary health centres only to monitor and stabilise a patient. Here it’s only possible to conduct a normal delivery,” said Dr Anup Kumar Yadav, director of NHM.