The Hindu Business Line : Pregnancy test at home

Anxieties related to a missed period, dependence on a mother-in-law or husband to visit a primary health centre to confirm pregnancy and ignorance around conception could now be a thing of the past for women in rural areas.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has successfully completed a countrywide pilot project to familiarise rural women in the use of a self-administered pregnancy test kit that is easy, free of cost and available through the familiar Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) or auxiliary nurse midwife. Called Nishchay, the programme was implemented by Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust, promoted by HLL Life Care (a Government of India undertaking).

At a recent workshop in New Delhi, J.P. Singh, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said this path-breaking step could help reduce the incidence of infant mortality, maternal mortality and neo-natal mortality. He said the Government would take it all over the country “by training not just health officers but also the accredited social health workers who, under NRHM, are the link between the health department and the community”.

Meera Devi, an ASHA worker in Jharkhand, says the simple and easy-to-use test kit has been received with wonder within her community. “Women were excited like little girls. They could not believe that confirming their pregnancy could be so easy and that they could do it on their own, in the privacy of their homes and without having to pay a penny for it.”

Timely confirmation of pregnancy can also bring down the incidence of birth-related complications and this, in turn, would make her work easy, Meera says. Women would register on time at the nearest primary healthcare centre, go for regular check-ups and opt for institutional delivery instead of home delivery.

Early detection

Vasanthi Krishnan, CEO of Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust says the Nishchay Pregnancy Test Card would now enable women to access medical care in the first trimester itself. “Most women come to the primary health centre in the second trimester and this places them and their unborn child at grave risk. Also, it is often late for them to deal with an unwanted pregnancy.” The pilot project saw an increase in the number of early registrations at health centres in most States, with women detecting their pregnancy within a month of their last menstrual cycle.

The Nishchay test kit also serves to introduce rural women to reproductive health and family planning services. They can access information on the importance of breast feeding, nutrition, postnatal care and birth spacing from trusted doctors and medical attendants.

Implementation

During the first phase of the pilot project in 2008, ASHAs were trained to interact with the community in an informed and engaging manner; in the second phase, government doctors were roped in to help State health departments adopt and integrate the Nishchay project into their other ongoing programmes. While feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly positive, the field team has faced several challenges, especially with regard to supplies and distribution of the kits.

Dr S. Bhattacharjee, Director of Health Services, says, “All women should know about this product since it is provided free by the Government, is easy to use and gives results immediately. I am glad that HLFPPT has produced some TV spots, radio jingles and a lot of communication material to disseminate this information.”

It will take some time for the pregnancy test kit to be completely integrated into the healthcare system, but already there have been reports of misuse wherein this free product has been sold by health workers. At some primary healthcare centres, stocks are lying unused and undistributed.

With the right kind of involvement and direction, this useful product can truly prove life-changing for scores of rural women.