Shree Sahajanand Saraswati Maharaj has envisioned a society with women playing a key role in giving direction to the society and in bringing up a capable & cultured generation. With this philosophy as guiding force, the organisation has kept women at the centre of all its programs.
The hospital runs several schemes for making the process of child birth less challenging in the given surroundings. Pregnant women who stay at remote areas are brought to the hospital using an ambulance. If any complications necessitates for a caesarean delivery then the charges are only Rs.6500. Every Thursday, the pregnant women are given guidance by doctors & nurses about child care in terms of upbringing, diet, physical & mental health, exercise etc. She is also given the nutritious“ladoos†(local delicacy prepared by the organisation) along with medicines.
Now and then, some pregnant women coming from remote areas get admitted to the hospital after complications, heavy blood loss, epilepsy etc. The state-of-the-art medical facilities at the hospital including the blood bank and the specialist doctors have saved lives of many such women & children after conducting specialised surgeries.
To reduce the number of instances needing urgent treatment, every Thursday, the Gynaecologist visits Primary Health Centres in different villages for medical check-up of pregnant women and give guidance. Children of those women who are consuming the nutritious “ladoos†made available by the organisation show remarkable improvement in their weight. The hospital is thus continuing its work of building a society with cultured and healthy mother and child.
Antenatal Care
ANC is the care of women during pregnancy.
AIM of ANC: a healthy mother and a healthy baby at the end of pregnancy
Duration: From Conception and throughout pregnancy.
Objectives
- To promote and maintain the health of the mother during pregnancy
- To detect “high risk †cases and give them special attention
- To foresee complications and prevent them
- To remove anxiety and dread associated with delivery
- To reduce maternal and infant mortality and morbidity
- To teach the mother elements of child care , nutrition , personal hygiene ,and environmental sanitation
- To sensitize the mother to the need for family planning including advice to cases seeking medical termination of pregnancy
ANC Visits
- Ideally the mother should attend the antenatal clinic once a month during the first 7 months.
- Twice a month , during the next month.
- And thereafter , once a week, if everything is normal.
- Minimum of 3 visits covering the entire period of pregnancy should be the target, as shown below –
1st visit at 20 weeks or as soon as the pregnancy is known.
2nd visit at 32 weeks.
3rd visit at 36 weeks.
Risk Approach
- Elderly primi (30years and over)
- Short statured primi 140 cm and below
- Malpresentations, viz breech, transverse lei etc. Ante partum hemorrhage, threatened abortion.
- Preeclampsia and eclampsia.
- Anaemia.
- Twins, hydramnios
- Previous still-birth, intrauterine death, manual removal of placenta.
- Elderly grandmultiparas.
- Prolonged pregnancy (14 days- after expected date of delivery)
- History of previous caesarean or instrumental delivery.
- Pregnancy associated with general diseases, viz. cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, tuberculosis, liver disease etc.
Focus on the health of pregnant women, “Maher” (Mother’s house)
In Konkan region, the women remain malnourished because of early marriage, continuous pregnancies, poverty, an addicted husband, insufficient food, and heavy physical labour on farm/home. With the aim of strengthening the society, the hospital decided to concentrate on health of the pregnant women. The hospital decided to form a team of doctors & nurses armed with medicines & the nutritious “ladoos†to visit the villages. The great sage Shree Shankaracharya had changed the direction of flow of a river (to make it flow from near his house) to enable his mother to bath in the river. Similarly the hospital decided to treat these poor, malnourished, pregnant women close to their residence.
It is thought by many that delivery of a pregnant woman being a natural event, taking help of hospital facilities for the same is not important. However in Konkan, many stay at a remote places and there is a delay in reaching the hospital. To counter the same, the hospital started the “Maher†scheme. In this scheme, the pregnant woman stays at the hospital since about 7-8 days before the delivery. This period is utilized to guide her on the care of the new born baby, his treatment & bath, his health & clothes and his diet etc. At the time of discharge she is a gifted a range of articles for the use of the new born .It is expected that this way the women are introduced to the proper care of their new born & would also be comfortable in getting the child delivered at the hospital.
Lactating mothers Workshops & Birthday celebrations for children
After delivery a mother been taught on importance and techniques of breast-feeding. After the birth of the child, the hospital is concerned about the development of the child, his care & diet at home.
A way has been found in monitoring the health of the newly born child and his mother through “Common Birthday celebrations†every month. This way the child and his mother would remain in contact with the hospital. For every newly born child, 3 birth-day celebrations are organised in the 1st year – after 3 months, after 6 months and after 1 year. Not only the child is blessed at this ceremony and gifts given but also his development is monitored, vaccination schedule checked. Mother is given guidance about avoiding malnourishment of her child and the mother of the healthy child is appreciated.
Get-together for in laws & baby shower ceremony
Every daughter-in-law faces a mountain of expectations from her mother-in-law. Most important among those is the expectation about the birth of a grand-son. Hospital arranges get-togethers of “daughter-in-law & mother-in-law†to keep this bond pleasant one. Doctors explain them the reasons behind the birth of a daughter or son and how the same are not dependent only on the woman, care to be taken of a newly born baby etc. This all will result in the newly born baby being welcomed with joy & happiness which is exactly the objective of this program.
Birth of a child is an event which fills his mother with unlimited joy. Young age, lack of knowledge & awareness about pregnancy, fear of delivery & even fear/stress of the possibility of delivering a girl child causes the pregnant woman to be under stress all the time. To release this stress & pressure, the hospital arranges Baby Shower ceremony for the pregnant women. This is expected to make the pregnant woman achieve pleasant state of mind, would make her more confident and lead to a stress-free delivery. It is one more way of the hospital to build life-long bonds with women.
Health workshop for newly married couples & Mangalagaur
Beginning of the married life is one of the important steps filled with joy in the life of the couple. However it is necessary to understand the true meaning of this step for long lasting happiness in life. With this objective, the hospital arranges workshops for newly married couples. Scientific knowledge is imparted about practices leading to a birth of a healthy child, importance of family planning with respect to the health of the mother & also with respect to the well-being of the entire family, care to be taken of the mother to avoid birth of a mal-nourished child, sexual health, AIDS etc.
The hospital is not only concerned with physical health of the women but is also equally concerned about their mental health. It endeavours to get the women associated with the hospital in some way or the other so that at important stages in her life like pregnancy & child delivery she can be helped by the hospital to be in a positive state of mind and in bringing in this world a healthy future generation. With this objective the hospital organises “Mangalagaur”. Through this the relevance of physical exercise caused by the games, activities is explained. As the marriage would result in motherhood, the newlywed women are informed about the importance of nutritious diet, regular exercise and positive state of mind in making motherhood a more joyful experience.