Title of The Project-: Improving Maternal and Child Health in Rural West Bengal

Title of the Project-
Improving Maternal
and Child Health in
Rural West Bengal
Executive Summary
Objectives: To reduce maternal and infant mortality rates and improve overall maternal and
child health in rural West Bengal through community health education, prenatal care access,
and skilled birth attendant training.
Project Duration and Activities: 3 years - Year 1: Community needs assessment, staff
hiring/training, awareness campaigns. Years 2-3: Implement health education, mobile clinics,
birth attendant training.
Target Groups and Benefits: Pregnant women and children under 5 in rural West Bengal
villages. Expected benefits include increased prenatal care, facility births, childhood
immunizations and nutrition.
Innovative Aspect: Using community health workers from local villages to promote
maternal/child health awareness and adoption of healthy practices.
Sustainability: Training local birth attendants and health promoters to continue activities after
project completion. Revenue from user fees after Year 2.
Financial: Total budget Rs.2 crores - Rs.75 lakhs Year 1, Rs.65 lakhs Years 2&3. Funding
requested Rs.1.5 crores from donors, rest from user fees and government schemes.
Introduction
Despite progress, maternal and child health remains a major challenge in rural West Bengal.
The infant mortality rate is 38 per 1000 live births, and the maternal mortality ratio is 166 per
100,000 live births, both higher than the national averages. Key issues include lack of
awareness about prenatal care, low rates of institutional deliveries under trained birth
attendants, childhood malnutrition, and poor immunization coverage.
This project aims to address these issues through a combination of community health
education, improved access to prenatal services and skilled birth attendants, and stronger
linkages between households and the public health system in rural West Bengal. By
empowering local women as health promoters and birth assistants, the project will build
sustainable capacities within communities.
Objectives
1. To reduce maternal mortality ratio by 30% in project areas by 2027.
2. To reduce infant mortality rate by 25% in project areas by 2027.
3. To increase births attended by skilled personnel to 80% in project areas by 2027.
4. To improve childhood immunization coverage to 90% in project areas by 2027.
5. To reduce childhood malnutrition rates by 40% in project areas by 2027.
Project Activities
Community Mobilization and Awareness
- Conduct participatory rural appraisals to understand local health needs and practices
- Launch multimedia awareness campaigns on maternal/child health in villages
- Facilitate community meetings and events to promote positive health behaviours
Service Delivery
- Establish mobile prenatal clinics providing checkups, supplements, health education
- Renovate/equip selected Primary Health Centres for basic obstetric care
- Train and deploy local women as home-based birth attendants
Health System Strengthening

- Train community health workers to counsel families and track pregnant mothers
- Strengthen referral linkages between home births, clinics and hospitals
- Build capacities of rural medical practitioners in maternal/child healthcare
Project Duration
3 years, divided into:

- Year 1: Needs assessment, staffing, resource mobilization, awareness building
- Years 2-3: Service delivery through mobile clinics, birth attendant deployment, monitoring
and course corrections
Project Location
The project will be implemented in Bankura and Purulia districts of rural West Bengal, which
have relatively higher maternal/infant mortality indicators and lower health services access.
Specific blocks/villages will be selected based on a participatory needs assessment in Year 1.
Benefits
Direct Benefits
- 15,000 pregnant women receiving at least 4 antenatal checkups
- 10,000 childbirths attended by skilled personnel
- 30,000 children under 5 receiving full immunization
- 25,000 malnourished children receiving nutritional supplements
Indirect Benefits
- Increased awareness and improved health practices in rural households
- Stronger public health system linkages from village to block levels
- Skilled birth attendant model for replication across other districts
Target Groups
Target Population: Approximately 3 million people across Bankura and Purulia districts
Target Group: Pregnant and lactating women, children under 5 years
Beneficiaries: Estimated 40,000 pregnant women and 80,000 under-5 children across 400
villages over 3 years. Specific village selection criteria like maternal/child health indicators,
accessibility will be used.
Human Resources
Project Director: Dr. Shanta Gupta, MBBS, MPH with 12 years experience in public health
projects.
Core Project Staff:

- 2 District Coordinators
- 10 Block Mobilizers
- 400 Community Health Workers (1 per village)
- 200 Community Birth Attendants
- 1 M&E Officer, 1 Finance Officer
Strategy:
- Core staff hired and trained in Year 1
- Community Health Workers and Birth Attendants selected from local villages and trained
- Robust performance management and capacity building plan
Infrastructure & Equipment
- 10 Mobile Clinical Vans with basic diagnostics & medicines

- Labor room facilities at 5 Primary Health Centers
- Computers, smartphones for data management at district/block level
- Rent for 2 district field offices
Community Involvement
The project will have high community engagement at all stages:
- Needs identification through participatory rural appraisals

- Village health committees for implementation monitoring
- Selection of Community Health Workers and Birth Attendants
- Running community events and awareness campaigns
External Partnerships
- District Health Departments: Program collaboration and convergence
- Medical Colleges: Technical support for training and service protocols
- Anganwadi Workers: Coordinated effort for maternal/child nutrition
- Panchayati Raj Institutions: Community mobilization and monitoring
Implementation Plan
Year 1:
- Project initiation and staffing
- Formative research & needs assessment
- Training of core staff and community resources
- Set up monitoring and reporting systems
- Procure equipment & infrastructural renovations
- Launch awareness campaigns
Year 2:
- Roll out mobile clinics and birth attendant services
- Initiate facility based obstetric services
- Strengthen linkages with public health system
- Continued capacity building and monitoring
Year 3:
- Full scale implementation & service delivery
- Monitoring, data analysis and course corrections
- Planning for post-project sustainability
Monitoring Plan
- Mobile app-based data collection by field staff

- Monthly review meetings at block and district levels
- Quarterly program implementation reviews
- Independent mid-term and end-line assessment studies
- Community scorecards and social audits
Project Evaluation
- Baseline, midline and endline health indicator studies

- Periodic process monitoring and quality audits
- Cost-effectiveness and impact evaluation studies
- Stakeholder consultations and feedback
Risk Factors
- Socio-cultural barriers to adoption of services

- Gap between demand generation and supply of services
- Attrition of trained human resources like birth attendants
- Lack of government system's ownership and convergence
Risk Mitigation:
- Formative research to understand barriers
- Phased implementation with mid-course correction
- Better incentives and training for community workers
- Strong partnership and advocacy with government
Sustainability
- Project will create a pool of skilled birth attendants who can continue earning through
home-based services
- Village Health Committees will be formed for monitoring post-project
- Cost recovery through nominal user fees after 2 years
- Advocacy with government for expanding successful service delivery models
Financial Implications
Total Budget: Rs. 2 crores for 3 years

- Year 1: Rs. 75 lakhs
Support Requested: Rs. 1.5 crores from donors
Other Sources:
- User fees after Year 2: Rs. 25 lakhs
- Government schemes/grants: Rs. 15 lakhs
- Community/PRI contribution: Rs. 10 lakhs
2

Title of The Project-: Improving Maternal and Child Health in Rural West Bengal

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Title of The Project-: Improving Maternal and Child Health in Rural West Bengal

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Title of The Project-: Improving Maternal and Child Health in Rural West Bengal

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Title of the Project-

Health System Strengthening

3 years, divided into:

Target Group: Pregnant and lactating women, children under 5 years

Core Project Staff:

Infrastructure & Equipment

- 10 Mobile Clinical Vans with basic diagnostics & medicines

The project will have high community engagement at all stages:

- Needs identification through participatory rural appraisals

- Mobile app-based data collection by field staff

- Baseline, midline and endline health indicator studies

- Socio-cultural barriers to adoption of services

Total Budget: Rs. 2 crores for 3 years

Support Requested: Rs. 1.5 crores from donors

You might also like