Maternal Care - Free Diet
As one of the monitoring indicator under NRHM is that 60 % of the PHC in the state should conduct more than 10 deliveries / month , Tamilnadu has not only achieved this but also many of the PHC are conducting more than the fixed target.The provision of diet to AN Mothers who stay for the whole day in the PHC are to be provided with food during the AN Clinics at the PHCs. To maintain the extra facilities and to meet out the increasing demands of the ante natal mothers attending the PHC, the centers are provided with extra amount based on the number of deliveries conducted.
The diet is also provided to post natal mothers for 2 days during their post natal period. This is an excellent strategy to ensure stayal of newly delivered mothers with their newborns for two days in the PHC. This has helped mothers in initiation of early breastfeeding during hospital stay. Discussion and counseling about family planning services and other warning signals for the mother and child occurring during the post natal period by the health providers has also been made possible due to stayal for 48 hours in the PHC.