Dr Ganesh Babu, medical officer at the Barsur Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh has taken novel steps to increase deliveries at their centre.

He found that most women delivered babies at home due to lack of access to nearby facilities, bad roads, and no bridge to cross the river.

The Barsur PHC caters to patients from 20 villages, covering over 20 km, most of which lack public transport.

“People have to come by foot. The district hospital is almost 35 km away, which makes it very difficult for people to go there,” Dr Ganesh explains.

According to a study titled ‘Maternal Delivery at Home: Issues in India’, women who own mobile phones and use SMS delivered at home less often.

The doctor came up with a unique solution — mobile phones — which help maintain constant communication with women in far-flung villages.

He is popularly known as “mobile wale doctor” and has distributed phones to more than 100 women so far.

This initiative has helped increase deliveries from seven to an average of 25 to 30 per month, sometimes reaching even 40.

The phones also help the PHC staff stay in touch with the mitanins on ground, as well as the pregnant women themselves.

“By using the phone, they are able to keep in touch with the mitanins (health care workers) and inform us if they are feeling unwell. We, in turn, can inform them about immunisations once the child is born. I give them basic phones which cost Rs 1,000, and give Rs 500 to the women who accompany the pregnant lady,” says the 61-year-old.

“Our staff can remain in constant contact with the women, even at night, to address doubts or queries. In case of an emergency, we send an ambulance,” adds Dr Ganesh Babu.

The addition of a pre-birth room at the PHC is another reason for the increase in the number of institutional deliveries.

“A pre-birth room was set up in the PHC by the government. In this facility, we encourage pregnant women who stay in very remote locations to come to the centre three to four days before delivery,” says Dr Ganesh.

The medical officer is glad that he is able to do his bit to prevent home births, as they cause maternal deaths and other complications.

“Many mothers have lifelong problems like chronic anaemia due to the bleeding. My idea is to avoid that and help mothers with a good, healthy life,” says Dr Ganesh.

His seven-year tenure at the PHC has saved the lives of hundreds of mothers.