Reproductive Rights
Every year 45,000 women die in childbirth in India. That is 5 women every hour. These women could have been saved, if rural clinics were not understaffed and underresourced. Deficiencies in maternal health care make the major life event of childbirth a nightmare for many women. In response, VV produced a manual on maternal health reporting and trained 123 Community Correspondents, many of whom had had difficult birth stories themselves, to investigate the realities of maternal healthcare in their villages. VV’s stories highlight nonfunctional health facilities, absentee doctors, a lack of access to check-ups after delivery and illegal payments to the personnel. In several cases, Community Correspondents have brought about change, by showing the gaps in the implementation of the government programs to the concerned authority.
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Community Health Workers Play a Major Role in Lowering Maternal Mortality
Health workers in West Bengal are counseling and motivating men to undergo vasectomies, and addressing the social determinants of health like gender dynamics and conditions of living.
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Communities Come Together to Ensure Better Maternal Health
Despite the government’s promises, lack of infrastructure and problems of access endanger maternal health across rural India. Communities are stepping in and holding the system accountable.
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Government Hospital in Jharkhand Leads by Example
At 167 deaths for every one lakh live births, India’s maternal mortality rate is still much higher than the Sustainable Development Goals target of 70. How can government hospitals help change the figure?
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Inside Jharkhand: A Tale of Two Hospitals
At 167 deaths for every one lakh live births, India’s maternal mortality rate is still much higher than the Sustainable Development Goals target of 70. How can government hospitals help change the figure?
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When Doctors Don’t Care About Consent
In a rural government hospital in West Bengal, women are not even informed that intrauterine contraceptive devices have been inserted into their bodies.
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Women die in Childbirth as Hospital lies Vacant in West Bengal
Doctors refuse posting to a small village in a border district of West Bengal even as people suffer due to lack of medical services.
Labouring on the Fields During the Ninth Month of Pregnancy
Schemes benefitting poor women are disbursed to them through bank accounts. But a large number of the beneficiaries do not even have access to banks.
61 families suffer due to lack of anaganwadi facilities
An Anganwadi center in a village is one of the essential most institutions in a rural setting to ensure a healthy, educated and aware child and mother. However, this village in Bisungarh district of Jharkhand, home to over at least 61 mothers worry that their children are denied the benefits of...