NCW Received 648 Calls For Helping Pregnant Women In The Last 20 Days

NCW helps pregnant women: In the last 20 days, National Commission for Women (NCW) received about 648 calls to help pregnant women. The needs ranged from requirement of ventilator beds to plasma.

Thank you @AnushkaSharma for supporting our efforts and sharing our campaign to help expecting mothers in need of medical aid. Most importantly, thank you for leading the way in helping our country come out of this pandemic. You never stop to inspire!#HappyToHelp @sharmarekha pic.twitter.com/EK2UAA7mNl

— NCW (@NCWIndia) May 17, 2021

NCW helps pregnant women - This is how

On April 29, NCW started a helpline to exclusively assist pregnant women during emergency under the campaign #HappyToHelp. Ever since its launch, a team of 40 people are working together in order to manage the different requests they are receiving on the helpline. They are arranging oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, plasma and delivering medicines to the patients.

The NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma said that till date, they have saved 648 pregnant women and their babies. Sharma added that with the intensification of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for plasma also increased. "In its initial days, the helpline received several requests for plasma after which we called for people who have recovered from COVID-19 to come forward and donate plasma," she said.

People responded positively to the call for saving two lives. They donated plasma for pregnant women and now the helpline has plasma donors from across the country who have readily agreed to help. In a case, a 29-year-old pregnant woman from Bengaluru was in urgent need for a ventilator bed. As the hospital did not have an ICU or a ventilator facility, a volunteer group approached the NCW helpline for expecting mothers at midnight.

Authorities from the district health officer to the police commissioner were contacted to arrange a ventilator. The team also contacted the health minister's office. Finally, they were successful in arranging a ventilator for the patient and she was shifted to the ICU.

Sharma shared another incident where a 30-year-old expecting mother was looking for an ICU. After the request was sent to the helpline, the team coordinated with the authorities and she was shifted to a ventilator. The family later informed that she gave birth to a baby girl.

The NCW has over 20 doctors who provide tele-communication services to women free of cost. The doctors come from different parts of the country to make it easier for the patients to clarify their queries in their own language. NCW helps pregnant women with the aid of social workers, doctors, influencers and celebrities. Such personalities have joined in to amplify the helpline's reach.