Govt launches Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan to improve health facilities for pregnant women

Central Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) —  to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centers and hospitals.

About PMSMA,
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan or Yojana is a new initiative of the Narendra Modi Government launched on June 9, 2016. The scheme has been launched with the objective of boosting the health care facilities for the pregnant women, especially the poor.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, the pregnant ladies will be given free health check-up and required treatment for free on 9th of every month. The scheme will be applicable for pregnant women to avail in all Government hospitals across the country.

• The national programme will provide special free antenatal care to about 3 crore pregnant women across the country in order to detect and prevent high risk pregnancies.
• The scheme is applicable only for the pregnant women. The free checkup will take place on 9th of every month.
• All kinds of medical checkups under this scheme will be completely free. Tests will took place at the medical centers, government and private hospitals and private clinics across the country.
• Women will be marked differently based on their health problems so that doctors can easily detect the problem. The scheme is applicable only to the women in their pregnancy period of 3 to 6 months.
• The women who are not from urban areas and belong to semi urban, poor and rural areas will be given preferences under the Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan.
• Pregnant women can now avail of a special antenatal check-up in their second or third trimesters at Government health facilities provided by gaenocology specialists/ physicians with support from private sector doctors to supplement the efforts of the Government sector.
• These services including ultrasound, blood and urine tests will be provided in addition to the routine antenatal check-ups at the identified health facility/outreach in both rural and urban areas.
• This move needs to be made a national social movement which shall engage the doctors from the private sector and other stakeholders and also administered the #IPledgeFor9 Pledge for urging all to support this programme.
• India is poised to work towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in maternal and child healthcare and India has made substantial progress on several indicators in the recent years and stated that its national health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Maternity Rate (MMR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and under five mortality are declining faster a than the world pace.
• This scheme is targeting women who have not received or dropped out of ANC check-ups and a minimum package of investigations and medicines such as IFA and calcium supplements, would be provided to all pregnant women attending the PMSMA clinics.