Case Study- mMitra Project

Mrs. Vaishali Kumbhar
Age- 29 years
Lele wadi, Marol, Andheri (E),Mumbai. 

Vaishali has been associated with Mumbai Smiles since 2014. It was during the time when her first child had taken admission in one of our Balwadis. She resides in Lelewadi, Marol,Andheri and has been living there for the past 29 years with her family. She is a housewife and sometimes takes over tailoring work which she does from home itself. Her child is currently two months old.

She lives in a slum where healthcare services are not available on time which leaves them with little information from doctors or government hospitals. She also tells us that doctors don’t generally give detailed information pertaining to maternal care. During her pregnancy she met one of Arogya sakhi of Mumbai Smiles who visited her home and explained her of the services.

She tells us that during her pregnancy it was not possible for her to meet the doctor on a regular basis and these calls helped her maintain good health. She received information about nutritious food, timings to take medicine, regular check-up reminders which helped her a lot.

She informs us that even though she at one point lost her mMitra card but still faced no issue while receiving calls and information. After her deliver, she gave a missed call on the mMitra number and regular calls were sent her way informing her about child care, importance of breastfeeding, hygiene and food that should be consumed.

An incident that really affected her was that there was a time she was really worried of her child’s health. Her child’s eyes and skin colour had started turning yellow but a call from mMitra built her confidence as they informed her that if such a thing happens one should let the morning sunlight on the child. Doing this for a while did affect her child and within no time they child was back to normal.