Under the programme, the government has been providing a pair of bhoto and daura, gloves and socks, cap, napkin and wrappers for an infant and a gown for the mother for use in breastfeeding. Only babies that are born in district hospitals and community birthing centres are entitled to the goods which can be used for up to three months.

Chief of the District Public Health Office, Arun Kumar Mahato said that results of the programme are positive. “Women who cannot afford warm clothes for infants and themselves during the post-natal period due to poverty are availing of the programme,” he said.

He said that a child up to 28 days of birth is considered infant and that it is prone to various diseases such as hypothermia. “The programme has contributed to protecting infants from the diseases,” he said.

In Parsa district, the programme is being run in three dozen birthing centres in rural areas. Mahato said that the birthing centres have reported a decline in the number of infant deaths and ailments.

He said that infants may die after birth due to the lack of awareness of the need to wrap them with warm clothes as they cannot adjust to the outside atmosphere right after birth.

Around 600,000 women deliver babies in the country each year. Half the births take place in district hospitals and community-level birthing centres. Nepal has the highest infant mortality rate in South Asia, with, according to the Nepal Demographic Health Survey, more than 20,000 newborns dying annually. Hypothermia and infections contribute to these deaths.