SAMBALPUR: A mobile-based software application has proved to be a boon for district administration in curbing maternal and infant mortality to a large extent in Sambalpur.
From 52 maternal deaths resulting out of pregnancy or childbirth-related complications four years back, the number of deaths has come down to seven in 2019 till January this year. Similarly, from 477 infant deaths in 2016-17, the number has come down to 83 in 2019-20. The administration had launched the mobile application ‘High-Risk Mother Tracking’ in August 2017 to identify women with high risk pregnancy at an early stage and ensure safe delivery.
ADMO (Family Welfare), Dr KC Mahanta said the application functions at three stages for collecting information about women with high risk pregnancies.
The administration organises Mamta Divas camps at village and block level every Tuesday and Friday during which village health and nutrition day supervisors collect and upload the data of the pregnant women including their name, address and health condition. The app also tracks and monitors the health parameters of all the pregnant women of Sambalpur who visit the District Headquarters Hospital.
The data is filtered to identify high risk pregnancies and the information is forwarded to doctors at CHCs who keep a vigil on health condition of the women. The data is also sent to the Chief District Medical Officer who monitors the initiatives to curb maternal and infant deaths. Currently, at least 189 ASHA workers and other health supervisors across the district are involved in tracking the pregnant mother and take necessary measures.
The district administration has also set up a help desk to talk to women with complications daily either through ANM or ASHA workers the ADMO added.
“The tracking app has played a major role in reducing the number of maternal and infant deaths. Our target is to reduce the number of maternal deaths by 50 per cent in 2021 compared to the figure we will get by the end of this year. Also, though the infant death rate is reducing, our focus will be to cut it down drastically in the coming year”, Dr Mahanta said.
