'Khoon Ka Rishta' Helps Pregnant Bihari Women Prevent Anaemia

BBC Media Action India has started a campaign, ‘Khoon Ka Rishta’, which seeks to deliver iron and folic acid tablets to pregnant women across 8 districts of Bihar. The campaign will also give them a booklet, which is cut out in the shape of a baby, where they can tabulate how many tablets they have consumed, using blood drop-shaped red stickers which will also be provided to them.

Source: Best Media Info

The campaign seeks to help prevent pregnant women from becoming anaemic. The stickers and the booklet are so that the mother can see how she is making her own baby as she consumes each tablet.

The idea is to use communication in non-traditional ways, Director of BBC Media Action India, Soma Katiyar, tells The Economic Times. 58 per cent of pregnant women in India are anaemic and 67 per cent of women in Bihar are anaemic. Anaemia is responsible for 40 per cent of maternal deaths.

The solution of giving women tablets and activities to ensure that they consume the tablets was thought up after the BBC looked at various studies which showed that pregnant women rarely complete the IFA tablet course. There is not enough supply of the tablets and a lack of understanding about their importance.

The campaign aims to “establish vividly how a would-be mother needs to have enough blood during her pregnancy so that she can support proper growth and development of her unborn child in her womb", says Katiyar.

Hence, the name Khoon Ka Rishta which uses the cultural concept of the importance of familial relationship by blood to show the mother how important it is to look after her own blood, so she can nurture her child.

Also Read: PM Modi announces scheme for pregnant women