Maternal Health India: New Maternal and Child Health Initiatives Launched  

Maternal Health India: New Maternal and Child Health Initiatives Launched  

General Studies Paper II: Health, Government Policies & Interventions

Why in News?

Recently, the Government launched revised Anaemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, SUMAN Roadmap 2030, and Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram during the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW).

1. Anaemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (AMB) Revised: 

• The revised Anaemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (AMB) was launched on 29 June 2026.
  • It was launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). 
  • It is a flagship initiative aimed at reducing the prevalence of anemia across the life cycle. 
  • It was designed to reduce anemia by 3% per percentage point per year among vulnerable groups.
• The revised framework replaces the earlier operational guidelines with a broader life-cycle approach integrating prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, nutrition, digital monitoring and community participation.
• The programme expands the previous 6×6×6 strategy into a 7×7×7 framework:
  • 7 Beneficiary Groups Children (6–59 months), Children (5–9 years), Adolescent Girls & Boys (10–19 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Women, Women of Reproductive Age (WRA, 15–49 years), and Low Birth Weight (LBW) babies (0–6 months).
  • 7 Interventions Prophylactic Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, Periodic deworming, Eating Right (promoting iron-rich, diversified diets), Behaviour Change Communication (BCC), Testing and treating, Provision of IFA-fortified foods, and addressing non-nutritional causes.
  • 7 Institutional Mechanisms Inter-ministerial coordination, Convergence with other ministries, Strengthening supply chain, Engaging the National Centre of Excellence and Advanced Research on Anemia Control (NCEAR-A), and a robust Digital Ecosystem.
• The revised mission introduces ‘Eating Right’ as the seventh intervention, promoting iron-rich, diversified diets, improved complementary feeding, dietary diversity and behaviour change beyond Iron-Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation. 
• It is upgraded from the T3 framework (Test, Treat, Talk) to T4 (Test, Treat, Talk, and Track) to ensure systematic follow-up of beneficiaries.
• A strengthened Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) mechanism with digital tracking enables real-time beneficiary monitoring, programme review, improved reporting and evidence-based policy decisions.
• The programme now emphasizes screening, haemoglobin testing, therapeutic management, nutrition counselling, deworming and addressing non-nutritional causes alongside supplementation.
• The initiative continues to cover children, adolescents, pregnant women, lactating mothers, women of reproductive age, while adding LBW newborns, ensuring uninterrupted care.
• Greater emphasis is placed on Jan Chetna, encouraging community awareness, family participation, frontline health workers and behavioural change to improve compliance with nutrition and treatment. 
• The revised Abhiyaan will now use a unified digital tracking system across platforms like the JANANI Portal, RBSK (Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram), and U-WIN portals to map hemoglobin testing records and reduce drop-outs.
  • Programme reviews indicate IFA supplementation coverage increased nationally from 35.5% (2018–19) to 57.6% (2022–23), supporting continued investments in supply chains, monitoring and targeted interventions.

2. SUMAN Roadmap 2030: 

• SUMAN (Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan) Roadmap 2030 is a transformative, data-driven national strategy designed to eliminate preventable maternal and newborn deaths.

It is a national strategic framework to accelerate India’s progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The roadmap aims to reduce the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) below 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030, further reduce Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), and achieve universal maternal and newborn healthcare coverage.

Unlike a uniform national approach, the roadmap introduces customised, evidence-based interventions tailored to State- and district-specific challenges.

• The strategy is anchored in the RMNCHA+N framework, integrating care from pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal periods with child health, adolescent health, family planning and nutrition.
• The roadmap prioritises 130 districts across 13 high-focus States—Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal—while providing implementation guidance for all States and Union Territories. 
• The strategy introduces a structured four-stage system to identify, track, and manage high-risk pregnancies, providing specialized care through early antenatal stages, the third trimester, childbirth to postpartum recovery.
• To ensure safe deliveries in underserved regions, the roadmap mandates the creation of Birth Waiting Homes, Obstetric High Dependency Units (HDUs), and Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
• Integrated with the National Ambulance Services (NAS) Guidelines, the strategy deploys GPS-enabled tracking and Integrated Command and Dispatch Centres to minimize transport delays during obstetric emergencies.
• Health facilities are being equipped with life-saving equipment like Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garments to control severe bleeding and AI-enabled labour rooms for continuous maternal monitoring.
• Community participation is heavily emphasized through innovative platforms like SUMAN Panchayats and Mothers’ Picnic, designed to promote positive maternal health practices and raise local awareness.
• Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are tasked with conducting bi-weekly home visits during critical eighth and ninth months of pregnancy, alongside financial support for caregivers.
• It establishes a 24/7 centralized call center for zero-expense maternal/newborn care and prompt grievance redressal.
  • It works alongside designated Centers of Excellence (COEs) and National/State Midwifery Training Institutes to bridge skill gaps and train healthcare staff with globally recognized competencies.
• The roadmap emphasises rigorous National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) certifications for participating hospitals, thereby enforcing zero tolerance for the denial of services at public health facilities.

3. Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SSBSK):

• Samagra Shishu Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SSBSK) is India’s new integrated community-based child health programme based on the vision “Pehle Teen Saal Sampoorn Dekhbhal”, recognising the first 1,000+ days (birth–36 months) as the most critical period for survival, nutrition and brain development. 
• SSBSK merges the existing Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) and Home-Based Care for Young Child (HBYC) into a single continuum-of-care framework.
  • It ensures uninterrupted healthcare from birth to three years instead of fragmented service delivery.
• The programme covers all children from birth to 36 months, integrating newborn care, nutrition, immunisation, growth monitoring, developmental surveillance and family counselling under one national protocol for early childhood health. 
• For the first time, SSBSK adopted a risk-based follow-up system.
  • At-risk newborns receive up to nine home visits within the first 42 days.
  • While at-risk children receive up to eight additional visits up to 36 months, enabling timely intervention.
• The programme institutionalises joint home visits by ASHAs, ANMs, Community Health Officers (CHOs) and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs), improving coordination between health and nutrition services while reducing duplication of efforts.
• SSBSK introduces Well-Baby Sessions during every Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) and monthly Shishu Shivirs at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs for systematic screening, assessment, referral and follow-up of vulnerable children. 
• The programme integrates Early Childhood Development (ECD) through responsive caregiving, age-appropriate play, early learning, child safety and family engagement, strengthening cognitive and emotional development during the formative years.
• It includes post-partum maternal mental health screening as a structured community-based service, recognising the direct impact of maternal well-being on infant nutrition, bonding and developmental outcomes.
• SSBSK employs Decision Support Systems (DSS), child-wise digital tracking, referral alerts and interoperability with many systems.
  • It will interoperable with JANANI Portal, U-WIN, MPCDSR, RBSK 2.0, POSHAN Tracker, ABHA and Baal-ABHA IDs, enabling real-time monitoring and continuity of care. 
• SSBSK represents India’s most comprehensive community-based child health strategy, supporting Universal Health Coverage, SDG 3, and the Viksit Bharat vision.

Important Government Initiatives for Maternal and Child Welfare

• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY): Launched in 2005 under the National Health Mission (NHM), JSY promotes institutional deliveries through cash incentives, particularly for poor pregnant women in Low Performing States, reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. 
• Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK): Introduced in 2011, JSSK provides completely free delivery (including Caesarean), diagnostics, medicines, blood, diet and transport for pregnant women, besides free treatment for sick infants up to one year, reducing out-of-pocket expenditure. 
• Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA): Launched in 2016, PMSMA ensures free quality antenatal care by specialists on the 9th of every month.
  • By June 2026, over 7.5 crore pregnant women had received ANC services, with strengthened tracking of high-risk pregnancies. 
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): PMMVY provides conditional maternity benefits through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), partially compensating wage loss and encouraging early ANC registration, institutional delivery and breastfeeding.
• RMNCH+A Strategy: The Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) strategy follows a continuum-of-care approach linking reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent services across community and health facilities.
• Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK): RBSK conducts early screening for the 4Ds—Defects at birth, Diseases, Deficiencies and Developmental delays—among children, enabling timely referral and intervention. 
• Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP): One of the world’s largest immunisation programmes, UIP protects children and pregnant women against multiple vaccine-preventable diseases, significantly lowering infant and child mortality.
• Mission Indradhanush: This campaign targets partially and unvaccinated children and pregnant women, improving vaccination coverage in underserved and high-risk districts through intensified outreach. 
• POSHAN Abhiyaan: POSHAN Abhiyaan addresses maternal and child malnutrition, promoting nutrition monitoring, behavioural change, growth tracking and convergence across health, nutrition and sanitation sectors.
• LaQshya Programme: LaQshya (Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative) enhances the quality of labour rooms and maternity operation theatres, improving respectful maternity care, patient safety and newborn outcomes in public health facilities. 

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Disclaimer: Information in this article is based on official announcements and public records. Regulations and implementation details may evolve over time.

Also Read: Decline in Infant Mortality Rate in India