Field Coordinator sharing project brochure with our beneficiary Deepali
mMitra is a free mobile voice call service that provides culturally appropriate comprehensive information on preventive care and simple interventions to reduce maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in urban India. The voice calls are in the local dialect, specific to the women’s gestational age or the age of the infant and are sent weekly/twice a week free of cost directly to pregnant women and mothers with infants. Women in the community are enrolled by the sakhis. The women who come for their antenatal check up to the municipal or government hospitals are enrolled by the health supervisors. The women are enrolled for the service through partnership with NGOs, Government Hospitals, Maternity homes and ICDS workers. Individualized voice calls of 90-120 seconds (145 voice calls in all) in Hindi or Marathi are sent directly to the mobile phones of each enrolled woman.
Mumbai Smiles is one of the partner organisations of mMitra and enables it to reach out to target women. Today we would like to share the feedback of one of our beneficiaries, Deepali Sanjay Pandagale, who is associated with mMitra and is undergoing her second pregnancy.
This is her feedback, ”I have been getting mMitra messages from last three months and have been receiving voice calls as per my month of pregnancy. The woman on the phone talks softly and clearly in the language I understand. She tells me to look after myself, emphasizes the importance of taking iron tablets and how these tablets can work wonders if taken along with some tangy juice. I have been following the instructions regularly and find myself more healthy compared to my first pregnancy. She also talks about taking calcium tablets in the night and the importance of undergoing sonography to know the growth of the baby. She often reminds me to drink more water. She made me understand the importance of interacting with child so that the bond between mother and child develops. She tells me things which no one has reminded me before.”
Our beneficiary could not resist laughing when she shared that in one of the messages it was said that the baby is playing football inside.
mMitra is a revolution in the area of infant and mortality care and will be substantial in bringing down the infant and mortality rate in the society.
‘Arogya Sakhi’ giving informing about mMitra project to a beneficiary
Field Coordinators interacting with the community members
Thanks for this informative post on what sounds like a very comprehensive and much-needed project to save the precious lives of mothers!
mMitra team doing a very great job ,All the best !!!!!!!!!!!