Institutional Deliveries

Supporting Women's Right to Safe Deliveries

CHSJ participated in many international events (like the Women Deliver Conference, Global Maternal Health Conference and PMNCH Conference) where we raised the issue of compulsory institutional delivery without adequate emergency obstetric care service delivery through the Janani Suraksha Yojana. We also published a paper on this issue in The Lancet, one of the most reputed international journals on health.
CHSJ has participated in two events of Women’s Health and Rights Partnership (WHRAP). One was the National Policy Dialogue in 2005 in New Delhi and the second was a South Asian Policy Makers Meeting organized in Bangkok in 2006.

Role and Limits of Institutional Deliveries

Along with SAHAYOG and Healthwatch Forum, CHSJ has been engaged in critically assessing the role of institutional delivery and quality of care at institutions to address maternal mortality and morbidity in India. For a detailed description of our work, click here.
CHSJ collaborated with a group of organisations in Bihar to undertake a study on women's experiences of institutional delivery. The report was shared in a national dissemination meeting in April 2009, followed by the formal constitution of the National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights (NAMHHR). CHSJ was also involved in facilitating the formation of state level partnerships for this alliance among states including Bihar and Orissa.

Role of Traditional Birth Attendants

The NRHM has not made any provisions for the TBA/Dai, even though home-based delivery continues to be common, especially in the NRHM high focus states. Institutions in these regions are incapable of providing appropriate postnatal care. CHSJ acknowledges the need to address these emerging concerns and seeks to envisage a role for the TBA/Dai within the NRHM. CHSJ, along with Gujarat Dai Sangathan, Population Foundation of India and other organisations in Jharkhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, has been raising the issue of the role of dais in the present context and advocating for that role. A National Consultation on the Role of Dais in NRHM was held in May 2008 in New Delhi to review the role of dais and recommend ways to incorporate them into the NRHM. Read the Consultation report here.