THANJAVUR: Thin frames sporting baby bumps making a beeline for the Block Primary Health Centre at Seruvaviduthi in the hot sun with sweat dripping off their drooping eyebrows are a far cry from the accepted picture of pregnant women.
The disturbing scene from the early 2000s would make a drastic change in the years to come, all thanks to the efforts of 58-year-old Dr V Soundarrajan, posted at the PHC in 2006 as a medical officer. After coming to know that majority of the expectant mothers, mostly hailing from poor households in the villages around, are anaemic and oblivious to the importance of nutritious food, he was quick in his action, as he started handing over food packets to 50 pregnant women during their weekly visit.
“As they don’t have enough money, a healthy diet is a luxury. When hungry, the expectant mothers used to buy tea from some stall and drink it,” says Soundarrajan, adding they were not aware of the importance of taking food rich in iron and calcium that would help them beat anaemia and give birth to healthy babies.
Lack of nutritious food will lead to miscarriages, stillbirth or low birth weight of baby, says the doctor, who arranged meals prepared using locally available drumstick leaves, beans, brinjal, sorghum, maize and dates with the help of the then MLA of Peravurani, Veera Kabilan.
Soon, the government came up with Seruvaviduthi, an initiative to provide nutritious meals to expectant mothers visiting PHCs. However, the government doctor found the families from marginalised communities were unable to feed the expectant mothers with healthy food.
When Soundarrajan got the Best Doctor Award instituted by the State government in 2018, with a part of the cash prize of Rs 50,000, he bought a milch cow, 20 country chickens and two roosters for the PHC. Along with his staff, he started supplying milk to the pregnant women who visit the PHC.
The doctor, with the help of PHC staff, also created a farm on one acre out of the five acres of the land housing the PHC and began distributing vegetables. But there was a problem. He was not able to hand over the supplies daily. Plus, the supplies could not be taken from the PHC to their respective houses as they were located far away.
Hence an initiative to supply milk, vegetables, eggs, jaggery from the shops nearby the houses of the expectant mothers during the last trimester was devised by the PHC team. The shopkeepers supply milk daily and jaggery, vegetables and eggs needed for the whole week in one or two instalments.
The amount will be reimbursed to the shopkeepers. The village health nurses working in seven sub-centres of Thuravikkadu, Ottankadu, Aathalur, Sangamangalam, Thiruchitrambalam, Kalathur and Periyanayagi Puram are in charge of the supply of the essentials. The cost of essential supplies for each woman is around Rs 700 a month and every mother is given the essentials for the last trimester.
The news on the initiative spread far and wide, with many coming forward to sponsor it.H Samsudeen, a trader from Peravurani, an early sponsor of the initiative, said he considered it as a service to the expectant mothers. It was necessary to help them with nutritious food like milk, vegetables and eggs, he added.
So far, 120 expectant mothers have benefitted from the initiative, which was started in 2018. There was a brief lull after the Gaja cyclone in 2018 and during the peak of Covid-19. At present, 15 women from economically weaker families are getting assistance.
The effect of the initiative has been visible, said Soundarrajan. Of the 105 women who benefitted from the scheme since 2018, as many as 90 deliveries were normal and only 15 had to undergo caesarean section.
All the deliveries were performed in the nearby GH. And, among the newborns, 84 weighed between 3 and 3.5 kg at birth and 24 weighed 2.5 kg to 3 kg, said the doctor, adding the birth weight of babies testifies that the initiative worked well. Years have passed by. The thin frames that were a common sight earlier are a rarity now.
“When we monitored the weight, haemoglobin levels of those who were given the essentials and those expectant mothers who are relatively from well-to-do families, the women covered under the initiative fared better,” the doctor added with a smile on his face.