Pregnant women to be insured in Pali, but aim is to bring down mortality rate

Syed Intishab Ali

JAIPUR: You might have heard of accidental insurance scheme, medical insurance scheme etc but not a pregnant woman insurance scheme. Now the district administration of Pali, in cooperation with state health department and a private trust is soon launching an innovative maternal (pregnant women) insurance scheme to be known as Dati Matrutva Bima Yojna.

If a pregnant women dies along with the child (due to maternal reasons) in the district, her family will get Rs 21,000. If she dies within 42 days of giving birth to a baby, the newborn baby girl will get Rs 21,000 apart from the 21,000 given to the family. If the newborn is a boy, he will get Rs 5,100 apart from the 21,000 given in family's name. The scheme is most likely to be launched on August 24. The donor for the scheme is Shanidham Trust, Pali. The insurance is totally free of cost and no woman need to pay any premium for it. However, there are strict eligibility criteria.

With the new insurance scheme, district administration targets to bring down the maternal deaths in the district and also find out the actual maternal deaths in the district which go "unreported."

"There are various maternal deaths which go unreported. The annual health survey has its own figures of maternal death. The new scheme will bring out actual figures of maternal deaths and on the basis of that we can take corrective measures," said district collector Rohit Gupta.

"There is a provision for four ante-natal check-ups for every pregnant woman. However, there are some women who do not go for such check-ups at all. We have made check-ups mandatory to avail the benefit of the scheme. We will make auxiliary nurse & midwives to spread the awareness about it and to facilitate and guide the pregnant women to go for ante-natal check-ups."

Moreover, there are hidden goals behind the pregnant women insurance scheme. The scheme has been designed in such a way that it will help in increasing institutional deliveries, ante-natal check ups, immunization, marriage in legal age and spacing between two children. "There are 17 such points, which need to be fulfilled by the pregnant women to avail the benefit of the scheme. If a woman follows all the 17 points, the maternal deaths would take a dip automatically, which is one of the major targets of the scheme," says K C Saini, the official who is incharge of the scheme.

"It is a first-of-its-kind policy in the country. The basic aim of the scheme is to make the pregnant women and their relatives aware about the risks of death during pregnancy, which will encourage them to bring the women to hospitals for timely check-ups and treatment," he said.

The eligibility criteria includes marriage after 18 years, pregnancy after one year of marriage, difference of at least three years between two pregnancies, during pregnancies the women should not have more than two children, it should be maternal death, registration of pregnancy within 12 weeks of pregnancy at government hospital or recognized hospital, should have Jachcha Bachcha Raksha card fully filled, four ante-natal check-ups, TT vaccine and booster should be administered, swallowed at least 100 iron folic acid tablets during pregnancies, BP measured for at least four times during pregnancy, four times weight taken during pregnancy, at least two times hemoglobin check-ups, height measurement, test for swelling, institutional delivery and should take transportation facility under Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojna (JSSY) for institutional deliveries.


Source: The Times of India