Sure Start’s communications efforts put maternal and newborn health in front of a wide audience

What do Mr. Ramkaran from Sabji village and 40,000 other Indian men have in common? Well, they all received rather unusual letters when their wives became pregnant. The letters were written by their unborn children and emphasized the importance of the expectant mothers receiving adequate rest, sufficient nutrition, and necessary health care during their pregnancies.

These special letters are part of the “letter from an unborn child” campaign run by Sure Start—a five-year initiative based at PATH, an international not-for-profit organization supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Sure Start project is working to help mothers and their children to survive and stay healthy among rural communities in Uttar Pradesh and marginalized urban settlements in Maharashtra.

Sure Start uses creative methods to raise awareness about maternal and newborn health. The project tailors its communication techniques to match the group it is working with, actively engaging with the community to bring about change from the inside out. For

instance, the program considers it a priority to encourage men—who are often the key decision-makers in Indian homes—to take an active interest in their partners’ pregnancies, even though this typically has been an uphill task. If changes are to be lasting, it is imperative to ensure that primary decision-makers are a part of the transformation process.

In Uttar Pradesh, an extensive mass media campaign called Pehla Ek Ghanta (The First One Hour) has been rolled out in the districts in which Sure Start operates. The effort includes setting up billboards and outfitting rickshaws with messages about health for mothers and babies. The campaign has organized quizzes and screened films, both embedded with information on topics such as cord care, thermal care of the

newborn, immediate and exclusive breast feeding, birth preparedness, and danger sign recognition. The Sure Start program also includes a large wall-writing component. Messages written on village walls address many different aspects of maternal and newborn health.

It is not just village communities that are benefiting from Sure Start’s innovative awareness campaigns. In Maharashtra’s towns and cities, Sure Start has developed materials to facilitate home visits for behavior change. The task is complex: Sure Start engages with immigrant populations that come from distinct cultures and speak different languages. In every house, the audience for communications interventions is different.

The project has produced information, education, and communication materials that are prominently displayed in all the health posts and centers of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Early signs of progress are encouraging. In Navi Mumbai, the percentage of women delivering their babies in hospitals has increased from 79 percent in 2007 to 85 percent in 2008, and the figure continues to rise. In Pune, the percentage of women attending a prenatal checkup for the first time in the first three months of pregnancy has increased from 46 percent in 2007 to 50 percent in 2008.

Sure Start works to educate women in India on maternal and neonatal health. Sure Start, an initiative by PATH, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to promote safe childbirth practices in India. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sure-Start-Project-by-Path/178629192101Twitter: http://twitter.com/pathsurestart