Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) is an initiative undertaken by the government of India to provide free-of-cost, well-rounded, comprehensive antenatal care benefits to pregnant women during the last 6 months of pregnancy.
This initiative was implemented through the Department of Health and Family Welfare schemes (MoHFW), Government of India. This program renders all pregnant women in the 2nd or 3rd trimester of their pregnancy, a fixed day of quality antenatal services on the 9th day of every month at government healthcare facilities and institutions. Government healthcare institutions like primary healthcare facilities, community healthcare facilities, and government medical colleges are authorized to implement this initiative into action.
There are more than 12,800 government healthcare facilities all across India where PMSMA campaigns are conducted diligently. Private medical practitioners are also encouraged to volunteer and participate in this campaign at government healthcare facilities. Private medical practitioners are honored with the 'IPledgeFor9' Achievers Awards by the government for contributing to this initiative.
The Foundation of Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)-
Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan was launched in 2016 and was acknowledged and appreciated by the prime minister as well. Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi highlighted the motive for the Initiation of the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan in the 'Mann Ki Baat' episode of 31st July 2016.
As part of the Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) strategy, Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan envisions making Safe Pregnancy a national motto and a social movement by enhancing the quality of Antenatal Care (ANC) by including counseling and diagnostic services to the pregnant women as well.
The Objective of Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)-
1) The objective of the PMSMA scheme is to ensure that all pregnant women avail of at least one antenatal checkup from the physician in their second or third trimester of pregnancy.
2) It envisages improving the quality of antenatal care by availing services like relevant diagnostic services, screening tests for all the relevant clinical conditions, and proper management of any pre-existing clinical conditions like anemia, hypertension induced by pregnancy and gestational diabetes.
3) It also renders services like appropriate counseling services, identification and follow-up of pregnancies with comorbidities and high-risk factors, and complication readiness for pregnant women detected with risk factors.
4) This initiative puts special importance on early and adolescent pregnancies as they increase the risk of eclampsia, systemic infections, and puerperal endometritis.
5) This initiative also puts emphasis on dealing with maternal malnutrition which is a common occurrence among women during pregnancies.
Features of Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)-
PMSMA is founded on the premise that if pregnant women in India are examined and rendered with appropriate antenatal care services at least once during the PMSMA and then followed up consequently, it can help improve the chance of reducing maternal and infant mortality in India.
1) In addition to the antenatal care, pregnant women would receive a minimal package of prenatal care services which would include medical checkups, examinations, and medications on the ninth day of each month at government health facilities.
2) This initiative renders all pregnant women visiting govt health institutions, a minimal package of examinations that would include medicinal supplements such as calcium supplements, IFA supplements, etc., and at least one ultrasound in the second trimester using the principles of a single window system concept.
3) Under PMSMA, the population targeted is pregnant women in the 2nd or 3rd trimester of their pregnancy but special attempts are made to connect with high-risk pregnant women or women who have not registered for ANC and women who have registered but have not used ANC services.
4) If there are insufficient or no public health sector practitioners available then the healthcare professionals like physicians, obstetrician-gynecologists, and radiologists from the private healthcare sector are invited to volunteer their services at public health institutions.
5)The early detection and monitoring of high-risk pregnancies involving the risk of complications are one of PMSMA's features. For every visit, a sticker detailing the health and risk factors of the pregnant woman is allotted to the MCP card, placing them in two categories:
• Green Sticker affixed for pregnant women with no risk factor detected
• Red Sticker affixed for pregnant women with high-risk factor detected
Identification of a high risk pregnancies is the first and significant step towards saving mothers and newborns from preventable deaths. As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) data, India has quite successfully accomplished the major milestone to reduce the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to below 100 per lakh live births by 2020 (laid down in National Health Policy 2017) down to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20 from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16. Under the National Health Mission, the government of India has launched various multidimensional initiatives, with concerted interventions and efforts made under the Reproductive Maternal New born Child Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy to improve maternal and neonatal health status.
