To provide timely help to pregnant women and rush them to hospitals, a District Magistrate had launched a unique software in Rajasthan that would alert authorities when a health emergency arose and, also, keep track of non-institutional deliveries happening in the area. The idea is to provide immediate response when a baby is about to be born, as, in cases of high-risk pregnancy, early detection and effective management contribute substantially to the reduction of maternal and foetal adverse outcomes.
The officer concerned is 2014-batch IAS officer Ashish Modi and this particular initiative was launched when he was posted as the DM in Jaisalmer. Since then, he has moved on to another district – Bhilwara – but the software he has left behind is now helping women in the remotest parts of Jaisalmer. Indian Masterminds spoke to the officer to know more about this software that has turned out to be a boon for pregnant women of Jaisalmer.
THE SOFTWARE
Explaining its purpose, Mr. Modi said, “A software was developed by the National Health Mission, Rajasthan, which makes an alert automatically when a pregnant woman is referred from the local health centre to a higher institution. This is mostly effective in higher risk pregnancy cases as the concerned hospital makes prior arrangements to tackle the patient.”
A total of 30 high risk pregnancy zones were identified in the district and tablets were provided to 30 Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs). Using these tablets, the ANMs would exchange information with the higher institutions on time. This helped in streamlining the process and making the institutions aware beforehand.
The tablets were bought from the CSR funds which were pooled in for this initiative. There was a tablet distribution programme and workshop at the Collectorate’s conference hall, where Mr. Modi gave the tablets to 30 ANMs.
SENSITISING ANMs
Apart from adopting technology to tackle the issue, another important step he took was to sensitise the ANMs about the importance of IT in faster communication. ANMs or Auxiliary Nurse Midwives are village-level female health workers in India, who are known as the first contact person between the community and the health services.
“Secondly, the software was also used to track the non-institutional deliveries. A survey was conducted in which related issues were identified and proposals were sent by the administration to the Niti Aayog.”
The officer had proposed to provide two-wheeler scooters to the ANMs so that they can provide last mile connectivity. However, before any reply could be received, Mr. Modi was transferred to a new posting – DM Bhilwara, and he had to leave Jaisalmer. However, his work legacy lives on and the officer who took charge from him is taking it up from there.
