Bhopal: To promote institutional delivery by reducing the maternal mortality rate (MMR), the government is planning to introduce the ''Birth Waiting Home' Scheme, extending an allowance of Rs 100 per day to pregnant women from tribal districts.
With an MMR of 173 per lakh which is nearly double the national average of 97, the tribal belt of Madhya Pradesh is facing the worst crisis. To tackle this, Birth Waiting Homes will be set up in community health centres to shelter pregnant women for impending deliveries where they will get an allowance of Rs 100 per day. The scheme will be run on a pilot basis in Jhabua, Alirajpur and Barwani.
It has been observed that women from tribal areas are shy of getting admitted to hospitals for delivery fearing wage loss and the daily allowance is expected to encourage them to seek institutional delivery. Apart from district hospitals, 71 civil hospitals and 249 community health centres in 47 districts would be brought under the scheme.
So far, Birth Waiting Homes have been started in 119 institutions in the state. If the experience in these three districts turns out to be positive, the daily allowance will be extended to other districts in future.
"The government is continuously taking proactive steps to improve maternal and infant mortality rates. To ensure that pregnant women reach the hospital before delivery, birth waiting homes are being built in hospitals across the state. To ensure that pregnant sisters in tribal areas reach there safely, a provision has been made to give them a separate incentive amount of Rs. 100," health minister Narendra Shivaji said.
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