Not All Superwomen Wear Capes!

Somela Bangaramma, a 54-year-old ASHA worker (accredited community health activist), has achieved 100% institutional deliveries over the last fifteen years in her small tribal village— a feat most frontline workers can only dream of in rural India.

Working against decades-old myths and misconceptions around institutional delivery, Bangaramma from Koyetiguda – an idyllic, remote village on a hilly terrain in Ananthagiri Mandal, Andhra Pradesh, had an arduous battle to convince the community to change their views and their ways, in order to save the lives of young mothers and newborns, succumbing to age-old traditions around deliveries.

With 1 in every 5 child deaths and a quarter of all maternal deaths worldwide occurring in India, AIF’s Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative (MANSI) – a low-cost award-winning community-based health Program, addresses the inequities in accessing quality and affordable health care for mothers and newborns among the vulnerable population in India.

MANSI, along with the help of ASHAs, ensures that pregnant women and newborns receive preventive, promotive, and curative care to survive and thrive. The Program develops the skills of ASHAs in Home-Based Care (HBC) to strengthen individual and family knowledge about healthy behavior during and after pregnancy, as well as during infancy and childhood.

Even though Bangaramma was trained as an ASHA using pictorial communication tools and the local language by the government, it did not lead to the right knowledge transfer – a very crucial piece of this was Bangaramma’s inability to read or write.

MANSI supported and trained Bangaramma on the best home-based care practices through behavior change communication assets, including a flip book. This visual tool helped Bangaramma assimilate the training and employ its techniques to provide vital information to lactating mothers and pregnant women in the region. With support from MANSI, Bangaramma completed her home visits, built a rapport in her community, and became a support system for women in the village.

The lack of understanding of danger signs and the low status of women as decision-makers are frequently the most difficult challenges, and MANSI has assisted ASHAs like me in becoming the region’s only line of defense in reversing the trend for women.” says ASHA Somela Bangaramma.

Her efforts have resulted in improved ante-natal checkups for pregnant women, improved diet intake for young mothers, breaking the silence around menstruation and hygiene for young girls, and family planning. Bangaramma has also changed the narrative around the health choices women should make and is a true agent of change in her community.

MANSI is constantly working with ASHAs like Bangaramma who play an instrumental role in addressing complex socio-cultural norms, supporting better health choices through behavior change, and mitigating challenges like inadequate health literacy. These ASHAs are able to improve access to quality health services, especially in difficult geographical terrains such as tribal areas with no road connectivity.

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Author

Shreya Ralli

Shreya comes with thirteen years of experience in the field of communication, management, business development, marketing and advocacy, across development and private sectors. As a Board Member looking after Communication and Strategy for “Reach Out & Pass It On Foundation”, she has been a proponent of improved access to opportunities in the field of education and livelihood to the under-served communities over the last decade. She has her Masters in English Literature as well as Entrepreneurship Management and has represented her organization among cohorts of Policy and Communications leaders from across the world.

As a Dot Connector, her work experience as a communications and advocacy lead has led her to gainfully collaborate with government bodies and international organizations/entities like USAID, Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom, Atlas Network and WWF, employing a compelling mix of theoretical insights and analytical tools, poised to deliver critical application of communication mediation in the new media ecology.

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