Jhuwani Community Library in Bichauni VDC has been practising it since the past one and a half months, relieving women of having to travel long distances for regular check-ups.

The authorities have provided each of the female medical volunteers in all nine wards with a mobile phone and pre-installed application. The application named ‘Aama ko Maya’ (mothers love) helps the medical personnel keep track of the development of expectant mothers including vital information pertaining to pregnancy in audio, visual and text.

According to Chairperson of the library Keshab Acharya, they first record the vital data of the name, age, phone number and the last date of menstrual cycle of the expectants, which is then entered into the software by trained volunteers. The data is automatically recorded in the databases of the library, health post, District Public Health Office, Health Ministry, and the central office of Aama ko Maya

programme.

“The programme was created with an intention to relieve women from the complications during pregnancy and encourage them to go to the hospital, hoping to play a key role in mitigating infant and maternal mortality rate,” Acharya said. The library, with joint efforts of Patan Hospital, Yagiten (a japanese organisation), E-Networking Research and Development, Read Nepal and Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists had launched the application. The library has invested Rs 131,000 in the application and is in the trial phase prolonging six months.

Social facilitator of the library Suman Aryal said that the application helps monitor the condition of the infant in the womb, maintain regular check-up schedule, doctor’s information and the activities of the volunteers along with the expectants.

Following the launch of the campaign in June 31, several expectants have been availing the service. Volunteer Archana Duwadi said that the application had made their work a whole lot easier. “We no longer need to go through the hassle of keeping the records on paper and has made it easier to predict the date of birth. We even easily communicate for follow-ups and regular check-ups,” Duwadi said.

Through instructional videos in the application, the expectants are taught about the measures to adhere to while pregnant.