Gramin Vikas Sansthan

This is a story of a mother-in-law whose behavioural change saved the life of her younger daughter-in-law and her child. Her earlier behaviour made the child of her older daughter-in-law died.

When the wife of Ansara, a person from gram panchayat Sabji, got pregnant, she was called in the meeting, but her mother-in-law did not permit her. When the workers of Sure Start Programme insisted, she told that this preparedness is not really needed as everything will happen with the will of God. Regular efforts of the programme workers at least made the mother-in-law to attend the meeting but even then she was unwilling to take her daughter-in-law to the meeting. She used to say that she herself is enough to attend the meeting and had no reason to call her daughter-in-law to the meeting.

She started attending the meetings on regular basis and one day while flash cards of symptoms of danger were being shown, she told her own case of older daughter-in-law who was going through the similar symptoms, but they were unaware of the information. She was referred to the Bachhrawan centre and from there to Lucknow. She was saved, but her child could not be saved. She agreed to accept the programme teachings. She changed her behaviour towards the younger daughter-in-law and went for institutional delivery when the time came. Now she says that the meeting really gives a good moral that is important in saving the life of mother and child. Now she herself calls the other women to participate in the meeting.