1.

In March 2000 coalition members launched their first campaign with the theme being “Maternal death is an avoidable tragedy: we can prevent it”. The Campaign reached more than 9,000 people in 13 states and attracted extensive newspaper, television and radio coverage throughout India. The coalition developed a campaign guide for grassroots NGOs and media kits and distributed them throughout India through partnerships, networks, and e-mail. 

2.

The White Ribbon Alliance in India through its organizational partners launched the 2001 National Campaign, “Safe Motherhood : Families can make a Difference”, on 8th March 2001. The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness among families about actions they can take to prevent maternal deaths. This Campaign focused on informing the families about the need to prepare for safe pregnancy and delivery and be ready in case of an emergency.

on 7th April, 2001: To spread awareness about safe motherhood practice, a march to the Taj Mahal was organized on 7th April 2001 by the Alliance. This march was to symbolize commitment to stop needless maternal deaths and was organized with specific focus on families along the lines of the WRAI 2001 Campaign “Safe Motherhood: Families can make a Difference. Among the dignitaries who led this march were - Ms. Shabana Azmi, MP; Mr. Sardar Singh, Minister of Family Welfare for Uttar Pradesh; Dr. Rambabu Harit and Dr. Arvind Jain, Ministers of State for Medical Health; and other distinguished guests. The participants, approximately 1000 in numbers and wearing white ribbons, carrying banners and placards with safe motherhood messages, marched and converged at the Taj Mahal – a monument symbolic of maternal death, given the fact that Mumtaz Mahal, died in childbirth. In preparation to the March, WRA India developed & printed 5000 copies of a brochure containing Life Saving Messages for Families. A press conference, which was a prelude to the march, was held at Agra in the morning. Following the Press Conference, a Safe Motherhood Information Fair was held at the Taj Khema grounds overlooking the Taj Mahal. Around 2000 people took part in the information mela. This included national and international leaders, NGOs, WRAI members, midwives, panchayat members, traditional birth attendants, nursing students and families.

WRAI organized a two-day Symposium on “Safe Motherhood at Home: Realities, Perspectives and Challenges” on November 27-28, 2000 at New Delhi. The main theme of the Symposium was Safe Motherhood at Home. The focus was on assessing existing realities about maternal health, sharing exceptional experiences in preventing maternal deaths and promoting the mother and child’s health, and presenting varied and multi-disciplinary perspectives on what can be done to bring about a change for the better. The Symposium generated a great deal of interest, and succeeded in bringing together more then 150 participants, personalities and activists committed to the cause of Safe Motherhood. 

To bring national attention to the issue of safe motherhood, White Ribbon Alliance had appealed to the Government of India to declare the National Safe Motherhood Day. After intense lobbying for a year and half, Government of India declared April 11th, the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi, as the National Safe Motherhood Day. India is the first country in the world to have officially declared a national safe motherhood Day. 

a. Rally at India Gate The Rally “Save Our Mothers” was held at the India Gate on April 10, 2003. The rally was flagged off by a number of celebrities. Chief Minister of Delhi, Smt. Shiela Dixit addressed the crowd of more than 2500 students, nurses, doctors, NGO workers, social workers, activists, and safe motherhood experts and advocates. The Chief Minister highlighted the importance of mothers’ well-being and the need to provide immediate care when mothers have health problems. Among those who took part in this rally were Shabana Azmi, Member of Rajya Sabha and noted film actress; Nirmala Despandey, noted Gandhian; and Nafisa Ali, social activist and actress.  

b. Launch of Janani Suraksha Yojana A nationwide maternal benefits scheme by former Minister for Health, Ms. Sushma Swaraj, on NSMD 2003. WRAI worked very closely with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in the development of the scheme and provided feedback on the draft before it was sent for financial clearance.

c. Safe Motherhood Best Practices Field Guide in Hindi Was released by the Honorable Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Sushma Swaraj. 

a. "Safe Motherhood is the Right of All Women" On April 7-11, 2004, the national campaign, “Safe Motherhood is the Right of All Women” to mark the second National Safe Motherhood Day was launched. 

b. A series of special programmes were held across India, which included the dissemination of key messages through the media and a series of postcards, which highlighted the various international rights to a safe pregnancy and delivery. These postcards, a series of 5 postcards on Rights aspect of Safe Motherhood in English and Hindi, were shared throughout the country and reinforced the theme that it is a social injustice for a woman to die during pregnancy and childbirth. 

c. As part of the campaign, a Blood Donation Camp was organized in the premises of All India Women’s Conference (AIWC). 

d. A series of print advertisements on Rights related to safe Motherhood, reports, stories and think pieces on safe motherhood rights issues were placed in national, regional and local newspapers. 

e. WRAI provided technical assistance in the production of two TV spots on Rights aspect of Safe Motherhood that was produced by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

f. The WRA State Alliances of Rajasthan, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh carried out several activities to observe the day such as advocacy and awareness generation programs, fairs, rallies, consultative meetings, press conferences, poster campaigns, exhibitions etc. The media campaign resulted in more than 40 reports being published in various newspapers all over the country. 

a. On the occasion of the National Safe Motherhood Day 2005, the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, India, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India organized a National Level Meeting on Safe Motherhood and Skilled Birth Attendance at the Chinmaya Mission Auditorium, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The objective of the meeting was to discuss the Implementation of the New Initiatives on Skilled Birth Attendance and to release the Guidelines for Ante-Natal Care and Skilled Attendance at Birth for ANMS and LHVs. The Guidelines for Ante-Natal Care and Skilled Attendance at Birth for ANMs and LHVs was released by Shri. P.K. Hota, Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, MOHFW, Government of India

Go Top

a. WRAI, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (IAPPD), with support from UNICEF and Macarthur Foundation, organized a Meeting with Parliamentarians on the eve of the National Safe Motherhood Day, April 10, 2006 in Delhi. The objective of the meeting was to engage parliamentarians in advocacy for safe motherhood policies and programs at national and state levels. 

The meeting was attended by approximately 150 persons and comprised of WRAI members, donors, international agencies, NGOs, doctors, nurses and nursing students. Prominent parliamentarians who attended and addressed the gathering were Mr. Dipender Huda, MP, Haryana; Mr. Virender Kateria, MP Punjab; Dr. Yoganand Shastri, Health Minister, Delhi Government; Mr. Ajit Singh, MP Bihar; and Mr. Dharampal Sabharwal.

The ‘Guidelines for operationalising PHC to provide 24 hours Delivery and New Born Care under RCH 2” was released by Mr. Ajit Singh and Mr. Dharampal Sabharwal. The “Guidelines for pregnancy care and management of common Obstetric Complications by Medical Officers” was released by Mr. P.K. Hota and Mr. Virendra Kataria.

1.

For the first time in India, 467 world renown experts, activists and champions in safe motherhood from 35 nations came together at the International Conference, “Saving Mothers’ Lives: What Works” held at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel October 3-6, 2002 to share their best practices, organized by the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, India. Leading specialists from USA, UK, Belgium, Indonesia, India, Egypt, Nepal, Malaysia and Sri Lanka reported on how they have been able to reduce maternal deaths. 137 presentations of “What Works” were made.

2.

Dr. A.K. Walia, Minister of Health, Delhi, with the Secretaries from a number of states around India deliberated alongside high level government officials and NGOs coming from other Asian and African countries. 

3.

A Special Ceremony and Reception was organized on the second day of the Conference o present the Safe Motherhood Champion Awards to 12 people, honoring them for having saved mothers and newborns’ lives worldwide. 

4.

A major success of this conference was the ‘Ribbon of Life Quilt’ which represented the commitment of individuals and organizations to promoting safe motherhood around the world. Its purpose was to highlight individuals and organizations that have saved a mother’s or newborn’s life and their commitment to maternal health and safe motherhood in their own communities, countries, and internationally.

5.

A Resource Marketplace was held to give participants/ organizations a chance to display and share information/materials. Approximately 50 organizations shared their resources with the delegates

6.

As a follow up to the conference, a “Delhi Call for Action” was presented to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This conference was an opportunity for policy makers to learn of evidence-based practices working in other countries

7.

A Safe Motherhood Best Practices Field Guide was published and released during the international conference. This field guide has evidence based practices and how to guidelines for safe motherhood. This field guide is intended for program managers and implementers working at the community level to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths. This field guide has been refined and translated into multiple languages. 

The WRAI has been working as an informal technical expert group on safe motherhood with the government of India. WRAI members and leaders are called upon to give technical guidance in program design and to organize technical meetings on safe motherhood. WRAI has also been involved in the process of RCH II, the official Reproductive and Child Health Program of the Government of India. WRAI has participated in the Government of India consultations for the RCH II. 

WRAI has been promoting the use of Skilled Birth Attendants and has been working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the development of a cadre of Skilled Birth Attendants. WRAI wrote a background paper on Skilled Birth Attendants and the Need for Obstetric Care in Rural Areas, which was presented to the Government, donor agencies, professional bodies like FOGSI, and NGOs, on March 5th, 2003. 

In 2004, WRAI was invited by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to develop evidence-based guidelines and protocols for their essential package of maternal and child health services, namely:
• Guidelines for Ante-natal Care and Skilled Birth Attendance by ANMs and LHVs 
• Guidelines for Pregnancy care and management of common obstetric complications by Medical Officers 
• Guidelines for Operationalisation of 24 hour functioning PHC, under RCH- II. 

These policies have been set, and the WRA India is engaging parliamentarians, elected representatives and media representatives in advocacy for implementation of these policies and programs at national and state levels. Civil society organizations are being trained on conducting policy advocacy to key decision makers in state and central governments for improving status of maternal health services in the country. 

WRAI is advocating for the implementation of safe motherhood policies in India by engaging parliamentarians, elected representatives and media representatives at national and state levels. In conjunction with WRAI members at the national level as well as state-level WRA branches in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa and partner NGOs in West Bengal, WRAI is conducting social mobilization and advocacy activities to raise public awareness of safe motherhood issues and to strengthen the role of civil society organizations to monitor the implementation of the Government of India’s Reproductive and Child Health Policy II. Two Advocacy Kits for Safe Motherhood for Elected Representatives and Media Representatives were produced. The Advocacy Kits framed the key messages and provided basic information for these two key audiences. These kits are available in English, Hindi, Oriya and Bangla. 

Go Top