The Antara Foundation Blog

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 ...

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 s...

By Gaurav Masih (Program Officer, Chhattisgarh) My role as Program Officer gives me the opportunity to closely interact with several frontline health workers. Over the last several months, I came across some remarkable women who showed that if you have the will, you can achieve your aspirations despite all odds. I wish to narrate an inspiring story of one such person from Mahasamund district, Motin Sahu, and the challenges she went through during her journey from Mitanin (similar to an ASHA worker) to Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) [ Note 1 ]  – a role she always dreamed of. Motin Sahu (41 years old) in her current role as an ANM Since Motin was a child, she wanted to help her community when she grew up. But as is the norm in traditional societies across rural India, she got married very early. It was a long road for Motin. She worked as a teacher right after marriage. Despite support from her family and neighbors, she had to quit shortly since her Mama-Sasur (uncle-in-law) star...

Antara Foundation works at the grassroots of public health delivery with some of the most marginalized communities in rural India. What is “community” for us? First, government frontline health workers, drawn mostly from local communities – the nurse-midwife (or ANM), the ASHA worker (village health mobilizer) and the anganwadi worker (nutrition caretaker). The second, the larger community of village populations, with our interventions focused on pregnant women, lactating mothers, newborns, and children. This article introduces you to the latter, that is, our end beneficiaries, and highlights various aspects of their lives. Where we work We work in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India’s fifth most populous state (~85m people) and second largest in expanse. Located at the heart of India (“ Madhya ” means central in Hindi), the state’s terrain is characterized by low mountain ranges, extensive plateaus and river valleys and is home to ten national parks. Large areas within the state are ...

The first 1,000 days between conception and the child’s second birthday are crucial for the health and well-being of the mother and child, with the period often referred as ‘the golden 1000 days.’ A crucial and vulnerable period, this phase carries with it a significant risk of maternal and child mortality and morbidity. Proper health and nutrition practices in this golden period not only impact survival, but have a profound impact on the child’s cognitive and physical growth. The Antara Foundation’s interventions focus on zeroing down on the neediest mothers and children across this golden period, and ensure full service delivery to them – from timely identification to proper management at the village or facility-level, to adequate follow-ups. We work closely with and through the government, and in close collaboration with communities to design and implement the solutions.  Our vision is to ensure “every mother and each child has an equal start to a healthy life”. Through this vis...

Our team is at the heart of our mission. Antara Foundation comprises a dynamic, diverse and entrepreneurial team, conjoined by an overwhelming sense of purpose to – ‘ensure every mother and each child has an equal start to a healthy life’. Our people come from different corners of India, with varied backgrounds and skills, all passionate towards a shared vision. We pride ourselves on our culture. Antara Foundation is all about putting the community first. It’s about creative thinking, being open to feedback, the willingness to learn, and transcending our comfort zones. We strongly live by the values of humility and integrity. We apply business thinking to social problems, with a sharp focus on execution at the grassroots (a ‘dirt under our fingernails’ approach). In this article, we highlight some of our key field-based roles, and how they all come together to drive impact at the last-mile. Program Officers Our program officers handle different blocks within our districts, each loo...