Rajasthan is the largest state in India which is situated in the northern part of the country. More than 60% of the state’s total land area is desert, characterized by extreme temperature, low rainfall, and sparse habitation. The state of Rajasthan is the eighth most populous state in the country and more than three-quarters of the population lives in rural areas. The census indicates that the state has a population of 56.4 million and managing such a huge population is not a cake-walk. Thus, along with other sectors, Health Care sector which is one of the strongest foundation pillars of the development has also become quite flawed. It lead to a situation when Rajasthan was significantly contributing to the burden of maternal deaths in India with a maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of approximately 445 per 100,000 live births in 2009. It was in 2013 that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje came with innovative methods and ingenious policies into power.
It was a part of her endeavor that Government of Rajasthan has introduced Family Centered Care (FCC) in the district hospitals all over the state. the scheme is expedient for the newborn babies and their mothers as under this scheme, the parents and hospital staff would work with each other’s collaboration and attempt to save more newborns. The scheme of FCC is the avant-garde of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje so that both the nursing staff and guardians could work in tandem to ensure the well-being of vulnerable newborn babies.
The first FCC center was built up in the city Alwar’s district hospital with the cooperation of the Norway-India Partnership Initiative (NIPI). The maternal mortality rate has been a point of concern for the state and thus FCC represents a paradigm shift in the care of newborn continuum rightly by moving from a predominantly provider-centric system to a shared model of care.
The primitive ideology behind the scheme is to improve communication and involve the parents of the newborns’ care as it would ensure careful nurturing of their baby.
The lump of the success of FCC in Alwar District Hospital assured the triumph of the scheme and thus, State Health department of Rajasthan has now decided to expand the innovation to all 33 districts of Rajasthan. It was announced the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October and state Health Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore said, ” Family Centered Care ensures true empowerment of the mother for taking care of the small babies in the community, as per principles taught by Mahatma Gandhi.”
The other efforts of CM Raje and her team in reducing the maternal deaths ratio like Kushal Mangal Karyakram (KMK), etc worked out in an unbelievable manner and brought down the ratio from 318 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2007-09 to 255 deaths per 100,000 live births. It is exemplary to the potent leadership of CM Vasundhara Raje that now Rajasthan has FCC and other schemes so that a family can be the primary source of strength and support to the child in case of need.
