Mother and Child Health Care (MCH)

The program was created in 1991 and addresses mainly pregnant women, mothers and their children up to the age of 5. In the context of the program, services in the fields of basic health, prevention and health counselling are offered.

The curative part consists of medical attendance of women during and after pregnancy through regular examinations, counselling and other support. For delivery, the women are referred to nearby hospitals that have contractual agreements with SBDCH. Children are attended to by paediatricians up to the age of 5 because childhood mortality is higher until this age. After that, they can access the services of the OPC. Recently, vaccinations for mothers and children have been added to the program.

The Awareness Camps arranged by MCH have preventive and curative aspects. They take place in poorer quarters in and around Kolkata, and on this occasion the inhabitants can be examined and counselled free of charge.

The preventive part encompasses regular group consultations. Here, a gynaecologist or nutritionist gives a lecture on a subject from the domains of hygiene, nutrition, illnesses or birth control. After that, the women who participate can ask questions and discuss their problems and concerns with the specialist. In this way, the women are actively included in the preventive work, and it is possible to detect and adjust wrong ideas about these themes. The women can acquire a basic knowledge that they can use in everyday life and transfer to their children. By focussing on the mothers, MCH comes in where knowledge on health and nutrition is applied and spread. Events on Mothers’ Day and Women’s Day intend to strengthen the public image of mothers and women and to help them obtain more self-esteem and self-determination.