Role and Knowledge of Ashas In Delivering Messages on New Born Care to Pregnant Women In Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

When ASH
As were i
ntroduced in NRHM in 2005,
one of
their
primar
y
mandates were
to visit homes of
pregnant women in their last trimester to give messages on
newborn
care.
The
first program
regarding
the
counsel
ling
and deliver
ing of
relevant messages
on newborn car
e
were
envisaged under
the
Comprehensive Child S
urvival Program
(CCSP)
way back
in 2008
in Uttar Pradesh
. Si
nce then,
tracking
of
all the deliveries and
t
he
related
messages given by ASHAs on
ANC and birth preparedness
to
mothers during pregnancy
are an in
tegral part of the work of ASHAs in all
the prim
ary health care
progra
m
s operated by the NHM in UP.
The cu
rrent study
explores s
ome of the crucial variables of
the
targeted activities
of the ASHAs
in
type
of message delivery on
newborn care
in four distri
cts of UP. Through this profile, the
c
ontent an
d type
of messages giv
en
by ASHA
s
in the
ir
coverage area
is tracked
for pregnant w
omen
.
The relevance of the study assumes significance as data on the details of
activities
like the content
,
timing
and qualit
y o
f messages
delivered
b
y ASHAs
during
pregna
ncy on
newborn care th
rou
gh
home
vi
sits
as per the HBNC guidelines
are
usually
not
available in
various studies
available in the public
domain
.
A to
tal of four districts of Uttar Pradesh were selected
using
pu
rposive
sampling
for the study and the
data c
ollection was con
ducte
d in
the
sele
cted
villages
of the ASHAs
. The villages were selected on the
basis of the selection of the ASHAs.
D
a
ta collectio
n
were done
i
n
the respective districts
using
a
pre
-
tested stru
ctured
questionnaire
with both close
-
ended an
d open
-
ended questions
. In
addition, in
-
depth interviews were also conducted amongst the ASHAs and a total 250 resp
ondents had
participated in the
study.
The
content
of
message
deliveries
by
ASHAs in the 4 dist
ricts
in t
heir catchment area
was
assessed
.
Most of the
ASHAs
in a
ll th
e districts except
Gonda
gave
all
the message
s
o
n
newborn care
to
the
pregnant
mothers.
T
his
shows that as per the ASHAs,
t
he newbor
n care message was better
delivered
in
all the four
d
istrict
s.
Similarly,
all
the mothers receive
d
the most critical
ge
nder
related message on
newborn care
.
This reflect
s the urgent need to reo
rient ASHAs
of all the districts of the state
on the
essential
newborn care
messages
.
T
he structured mentoring and c
oaching approach
can be applied at
both
leve
ls i.e.
onsite
or
in
-
f
ield
and
at the
facility
levels.
T
he support
ive supervision structure
of
AS
HA
Sanginis, ANMs and Medical Officers
can be catalyzed
for better adherence
on
delivery of
the
content, timing and
quality of messages
on newborn care
to the
prospective and lactat
ing m
others in
the community.
T
he
key aspect is that the process s
hould start from the last trimester of each
pregnancy