The Antara Foundation Blog

  With one month having rolled by since I joined The Antara Foundation (TAF), I decided to pen down and reflect on my journey so far. After having traversed for miles to reach the remote edges of the district, hopping, and skipping around the murky trenches and eating my meals on the road, I have garnered myriad experiences over the course of thirty plus odd days. Whilst documenting everything that I have undergone over the past one month might seem a tad bit long and overwhelmingly emotive to write, I could do a better job salami slicing my learnings into small little nuggets. Patience - The first and most important skill that I have learnt over the past one month - perhaps the sharpest tool in my negotiation arsenal. Much of my work involves educating, counseling, and informing the community and frontline healthcare workers on various aspects of health and nutrition. The work isn’t rocket science, but it takes an effort to ensure that your message has been passed on, understood, and

On a warm summer day, I met Surekha at an Anganwadi Centre in Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh. Surekha had recently given birth to her third baby. After resting for a week, she was back in the cotton fields, working as a daily wage labourer. The cracks of her palms and feet were filled with mud as she entered the Anganwadi Centre during her lunch break. While talking to her, I learned that all her three children were falling into different stages of malnutrition, including her newborn who was only 2 kilos, weak and malnourished. The Anganwadi Worker (AWW) had identified Surekha’s older two children as Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) and the third child as Moderately Acute Malnourished (MAM) after weighing them. I saw the confusion Surekha felt while listening to these words. She was trying hard to make sense of the phrases SAM and MAM, but to this mother who struggles every day to make ends meet, correcting an invisible illness seemed like a futile effort. Surekha’s story mir

In my recent field visit to Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani district, my colleagues introduced me to three most resilient women. One of them works as an Accredited Social Health Activist, known as a village ASHA and two are Anganwadi Workers (AWW) who are primarily in charge of nutrition and well-being of children under five. All three had two things in common – a childhood brush with polio, and the unstoppable courage to defy the odds. Life had dealt each of them a difficult hand before their second birthdays. Prior to when the Polio vaccine became widely available in India, all three women became victims of this debilitating disease. Each of them remembers getting a high fever, followed by paralysis, severe for one of them, milder, yet crippling for the other two. When I heard what daunting adversities these three women had surmounted and saw the courage and drive with which they were helping other women and children in their communities despite their own struggles, I felt that I must share

A few days ago, Hemlata, a Nurse Mentor at The Antara Foundation (TAF), met Manoj, 25, and his wife Divya, 23, at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district. The young couple had welcomed their baby girl less than 24 hours earlier. Manoj, as elated as he was, stood at a distance while the nurse mentor helped his wife properly nurse the child. Manoj’s inquisitive eyes peered at his little family, hoping to understand his participation as a father. On observing this, Hemlata invited the husband in and gently guided him on how he could help and support his wife. As part of TAF’s nurse mentoring intervention, we enhance ill-equipped labour rooms and improve the knowledge and skills of delivery nurses. Apart from this, TAF nurse mentors, along with frontline health workers, also help in counselling families on antenatal care. Hemlata advised the husband on how to hold the baby and the importance of creating a calm environment for his wife. She explained to him the potential health r

Time and again, guests who visit The Antara Foundation’s (TAF) programs in the field have said: “You are doing God’s work!” Kabir, a 15th-century Indian saint, and philosopher whose poetry touched the hearts of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs alike, had this to say about why humility is the true test of God’s work: " जब मैं था तब हरी नहीं ,  अब हरी है ,  मैं नाही। " (When my ego was present, there was no room for God; now that God is here, there is no sign of me) It is moments like this that feed my soul every day during my time at TAF in rural Madhya Pradesh. March 1, 2022 In a village in rural Madhya Pradesh This is the story of a baby pronounced ‘malformed’ and asked by the local Parihar (holy man, also known as  baba ) to be kept hidden from the world. The baby needed special care, and guidance on nourishment for a cleft lip and palate condition; the family needed support and sound medical advice. Priya Lodhi is a Program officer from TAF who looks a

By Prerna Gopal, (Sr. Program Officer, The Antara Foundation) A few years ago, I met a worried husband. To the outside world, Shyam* was a provider, a village headman, and perhaps the embodiment of all things masculine. But to me, on the warm, summer day he was a helpless man seeking answers. His wife, Geeta*, had been recently diagnosed with severe anemia while she was carrying their twin babies. They had been running around from hospital to hospital trying to figure out what “anemia” means and what they could do to protect their unborn children. Wherever they would go to get answers, Geeta would be rushed into a different room while Shyam would wait outside hoping that someone would explain to him what was going on. They were met with the words “Agli baar apni saas ko lana. Bring your mother in-law next time” and each time, Shyam would feel a little more helpless. During our conversation, Shyam couldn’t hold his anxiety in and regurgitated all his worries hoping that maybe I could

By Snigdha Arora (Fellow, Antara Foundation) “ Methi ki sabzi ” (a leafy vegetable commonly eaten in India), Gayatri announced excitedly over the phone when I asked her what she was making for lunch. Gayatri is an ASHA Supervisor, who proudly claims her position and oversees the work of 14 ASHAs (community health mobilizers). I met baby Prachi on the day I was accompanying Gayatri to a VHND (Village Health and Nutrition Day) in her village, Barela. VHNDs are organized monthly in each village, when critical maternal, child health and nutrition services such as ante-natal check-ups, immunizations, and nutrition services are delivered by frontline health workers to mothers and children. This one day can save many lives and significantly help reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths. A crucial element of our interventions is to train frontline workers on delivering timely and quality health services during VHNDs, ensuring every beneficiary due is attended to. “ Namaste! ”, the ANM (Auxili

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists observes January 23rd as Maternal Health Awareness Day . In the US alone, over 60% of maternal deaths are preventable. The theme for this year’s Maternal Health Awareness Day 2022 was Adding Up to Maternal Health - highlighting the countless factors that can work together to improve maternal health. Through this visual series, we build awareness on maternal health and spotlight the factors that add up to improve maternal health - from prevention and identification of high risk pregnancies, to labor room management and postpartum care. 1.  Prevention and early action for improved outcomes Iron deficiency is one of the most common problems that particularly affects pregnant women. Left untreated, it can lead to anemia, reduced birth weights and reduced gestation periods. Early protection and prevention can drastically improve maternal health outcomes, and the Antara Foundation trains frontline workers with essential skill