This Mother’s Day, Make It Count For Maternal Health In India

Even as celebrate Mother’s Day with flowers and cards, the state of maternal health in India is appalling. This Mother’s Day, can we pledge to support mothers?

“Any report on the state of the world’s mothers is by definition a report on the state of the world, full stop.” (Melinda Gates, in her Foreword to the State of the World’s Mothers 2013 )

So begins the Foreword to the 2013 edition of the annual State of the World’s Mothers report published by Save the Children. Just a small sample of statistics from the Executive Summary (PDF) of the report:

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The report makes five recommendations to ameliorate this situation:

1. Address the underlying causes of newborn mortality, especially gender inequality.
2. Invest in health workers – especially those working on the front lines – to reach the most vulnerable mothers and babies.”
3. Invest in low-cost, low-tech solutions which health workers can use to save lives during pregnancy, at birth and immediately after birth.
4. Strengthen health systems and address demand-related barriers to access and use of health services.
5. Increase commitments and funding to save the lives of mothers and newborns.

But these need to be social priorities, our priorities. Even for women with access to decent health-care, there is always a chance that something can go wrong. What is the infrastructure for taking care of them at that point? The best of doctors cannot compensate for a shortage of ambulances, bad roads, interrupted power supply, shortage of blood in blood banks, and so on.

Most of us are not in a position to fix these big things. But all of us want mothers everywhere to have safe, healthy pregnancies and for babies everywhere to be healthy, well-nourished and safe.

Two years ago, I frantically searched for Indian organisations working in this area to one of which I could make a donation. In that moment of crisis, I could not find one, and so I made my donation to UNICEF.  In anticipation of this year’s Mother’s Day, I crowd-sourced and put together this list. Thanks go out to Pervin Sanghvi, Ingrid Srinath, Bharati Ramachandran, Ammu Joseph and Anindita Sengupta for making suggestions.

I should explain that I had simply asked on Twitter and Facebook if people knew of organizations doing work in the area of maternal and reproductive health, and these are the organizations whose names people thought of. I did not ask for recommendations of which organization they thought I should donate to. You should read through their websites and do your own checking on the things that matter to you. For instance, you might seek clarity on what they do; whether they are already very well-funded; whether one can access their reports; where they work. You might choose to support research and advocacy over service provision. Your call.

But my request to you is that you do spend this time, and if this issue speaks to you in some way, and if you were going to spend money on a Mother’s Day gift or treat anyway, you consider making a small donation to one of them as well (not instead!). You may think your budget is small but every little bit counts towards something—from staples for an office stapler to paying for one bottle of vitamins or whatever—everything will find a use.

You were already going to spend money on a saree or a lunch or flowers or jewellery. Why not show that gratitude and love in a way that will add up quickly? I plan to.

Organizations for maternal health

I have tried to find out and share some information about each, but it wasn’t always possible. Do add any other information in the comments section.

• Aarohi, Uttarakhand
• Aga Khan Foundation, New Delhi: http://www.akdn.org/india_health.asp
• AnusandhanTrust, Maharashtra is the home of CEHAT, which does admirable work on gender, health and gender violence.
• Anweshi Women’s Counselling Centre, Kerala: Their health sector activities seem to centre on gender violence.
• Asia Safe Abortion Partnership, is primarily engaged in advocacy work around women’s reproductive rights.
• Butterflies, New Delhi,  works to provide and promote health care for street and working children.
• CARE India, careindia.org, has a number of programmes around India in the area of health: http://www.careindia.org/healthcare
• Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA):  http://www.cedpa.org/section/whatwedo/rh_aids.html
• Centre for Community Development (CCD), Odisha: http://www.ccdindia.org/rch.htm
• Chaitanya, Maharashtra,  promoted the formation of the Gramin Mahila Swayamsiddha Sangh, although it is not clear whether they work in the area of health care.
• Christian Hospital, Bissamcuttack, Odisha
• Citizens Association for Rural Development (CARD), Odisha
• Deepam Educational Society for the Health, Tamil Nadu, works on health projects but it’s not clear women’s health is a central concern.
• Development Agency for Poor & Tribal Awakening (DAPTA), Odisha
• Ekjut India
• FHI 360
• FriendsAssociation for Rural Reconstruction (FARR), Odisha
• HaloMedical Foundation, Maharashtra
• Healing Fields Foundation, Andhra Pradesh
• Hope Foundation
• Jan Chetna Manch, Bokaro, Jharkhand
• Jan Swasthya Sahyog, Bilaspur
• Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsha Mandal (MASUM), Maharashtra, http://www.masum-india.org.in/html/righttohealth.html
• Mahiti Trust, Gujarat
• Mamta Health Institute for Mother and Child, New Delhi. See also http://www.mamta-himc.org/on_proj.htm
• Population Foundation of India
• Ramkrishna Mission Home of Service, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
• Rural Development Trust (RDT), Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh
• Sama- Resource Group for Women and Health, New Delhi
• Sangath,A Society for Child Development and Family Guidance, Goa
• Society for Education ActionResearch in Community Health(SEARCH), Gadchiroli
• Seva Mandir (Rajasthan), http://www.sevamandir.org/what-we-do/programme-areas/health and http://www.sevamandir.org/what-we-do/programme-areas/health/maternal-health
• Society for Nutrition Education and Health Action (SNEHA), Mumbai
• Society for Community Health Awareness Research and Action – SOCHARA, Karnataka
• Society for Health Alternative (SAHAJ), Gujarat
• Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Maharashtra, http://streemuktisanghatana.org/ one of the oldest women’s organizations although the website does not suggest that maternal health is central to their work.
• Suraksha, Odisha
• Swaasthya, New Delhi
• SWATI – Society for Women’s Action and Training Initiatives,  Gujarat http://www.swati.org.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=142
• Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues (TARSHI), New Delhi  runs, among other things, a helpline on sexual and reproductive health.
• Vatsalya: http://www.vatsalya.org/Health.aspx
• Vikas Samwad Samiti, Madhya Pradesh
• Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR), Maharashtra

A reminder of why this has been an important concern to me: this blogpost on my two grandmothers. I cannot believe that the same health issues persist so many decades later.

via Meeta Sengupta on Twitter: Here is a calendar of many Mother’s Days observed around the world. If making a donation this weekend does not suit you, you can take your pick. It’s always an auspicious day to give.

Also, an article on the origins of this observance. It was intended as an opening for dialogue and peace, and we can make it that again.

This piece was originally published at Swarna’s blog on the occasion of Mother’s Day in 2013.

Pic credit: Blanka (Used under a CC license)

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