Priyanka's Story

Every year 420,000 pregnant women have high risk deliveries in Rajasthan. Priyanka’s antenatal health data alerted Khushi Baby Field Monitors to conduct a home visit.

Priyanka, a pregnant woman living in the Parsad Sector, had attended two antenatal care camps where the Khushi Baby platform was being used. On her first visit her prior pregnancy history of obstructed labor was recorded on the Khushi Baby app. In her second visit, she was found to have severe hypertension and edema, along with moderate anemia. Khushi Baby’s high-risk algorithm ranks mothers in terms of their likelihood of having an adverse pregnancy, delivery, or infancy-related health event. A list of highest ranked mothers is sent weekly over WhatsApp for ANMs to follow-up. Priyanka’s name was near the top of the list given her concerning presentation for preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal mortality. A Khushi Baby field monitor followed up at the household. When he reached, Priyanka was laying in her husband’s lap, having convulsions – a sign of preeclampsia with severe features. The Khushi Baby monitor called the ambulance and helped gather nearby villagers. Priyanka was carried on cot supported by the shoulders of 5 villagers to the highway, where she was then taken to the nearby community health center.

At the referral center, the medical officer recognized the signs of preeclampsia and immediately referred Priyanka to the District Hospital for definitive therapy. Priyanka, who was 6.5 months pregnant at the time was given an injection of magnesium sulfate and induced for early delivery. The pre-term child did not survive, but the timely referral helped save Priyanka’s life. After four days in the hospital she returned home, where she remains on the path to recovery.