Premaa – A guide to help the women in their reproductive ages!

One of the greatest miracles is to be able to create life.

As women, it is our privilege to be able to take care of each other – especially those more disadvantaged than us.

In India 48.1 million women are pregnant every year.
1 out of 7 pregnant women across India does not get any antenatal care.

Research studies overwhelmingly show that poor nutrition and poor antenatal care in mothers increase the maternal, neonatal and infant mortality rates.

Poor antenatal care is also directly related to increased rates of babies needing ICU care, infections in infants, poor growth of children, increased risk of pre-term birth.

All this in an already under resourced environment further burdens their financial situation.

Contraception is seen as a big taboo and not talked about openly. Women, especially from marginalised societies, have a very difficult time managing their sexual health and this leads to sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

Unwanted pregnancies often lead to death if the woman tries to abort the pregnancy herself or go to a quack for treatment.

The emperical fact is that Indian women are not taking care of themselves instead they forsake their health for that of their family.

Some statistics:

31.7% of men in urban India do not think antenatal care is necessary for their wives.
Only 12% women said that they made decisions related to their health on their own.
37% of women had less than 4 antenatal doctors appointments in their entire pregnancy.
Only 30.3% Indian women consumed iron and folic acid tablets for the recommended course of 100 days or more.
Consequently, 50.3% pregnant women and 58.4% of children aged 6-59 months had iron-deficiency anaemia–a major cause of maternal deaths, preterm births and mortality of infants.
India’s infant mortality rate is 34 deaths per 1,000 live births–the highest among BRICS countries.
The neonatal mortality rate in India was 25 per 1000 live births and under five mortality rate was 43 per 1,000 live births.

Indian women do not have access to knowledge about reproductive health.

They are not taught about pregnancy and contraception.

Socially talking about their pregnancies leads to a lot of false truths, fake news and advertising specific content, which while being easily accessible is not reliable or credible.

There are government subsidies available to women for their reproductive health but they are not aware and hence cannot take advantage of it.

The most commonly reported delay of reaching medical help in maternal deaths and with severe pregnancy complications is a lack of information at the patient level.

As an OBGYN resident working on this I knew I had to do something to change this.

I decided to start a non-profit called Premaa and developed Premaa pregnancy – a free android app with medically supported information about pregnancy and contraception to empower pregnant women to be healthy themselves and influence the long-term health of their baby.

It’s an android app in Hindi Marathi and English that has information on pregnancy, warning signs, labour symptoms, anc care, FAQs, tracking of vitamins, sonographies and antenatal appointments.

Premaa also empowers women to be in charge of their reproductive health by giving them access to contraceptive knowledge and benefits.

This non-profit app has already changed more than 600 lives since launching in April – by impacting better antenatal care in pregnant women all over the world.

With partnerships with like-minded NGOs like Urja Trust and Shakti Shalini, Premaa endeavours to provide quality access to reproductive health to all women.

I started this non profit on the cusp of my final year of MS in one of the most difficult and hectic residency programs in the world and honestly its been the best decision I made.

It’s been amazing going through this journey.

I plunged into the world of health tech and social entrepreneurship – not knowing anything about tech or entrepreneurship.

I learnt so much about the world outside the hospital and even more about the world inside of me.

Putting yourself out there to empower other women is always, always worth it.

Link to the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pivot.kreya

For more information go to www.premaa.in

Exclusive information for medical personnel :

For all nurses/general practitioners and healthcare providers:

Women in India don’t have enough access to good pregnancy care and contraception knowledge. Let’s make a difference to women we can help!

I made a non profit app called PREMAA PREGNANCY in Hindi, Marathi and English for women to follow their pregnancy and to have a healthy pregnancy and follow ups at the hospital. It also has details about yojanas available for pregnancy and contraception.

Please help get this app to women in need – YOU as a healthcare provider can do so much.

Here’s a flowchart for you to reach out to people and tell them about the app.

Send me a picture of you with the downloaded app on the patients phone to +919594040894 or eshachainani@hotmail.com and

1. Healthcare promoter get a participation certificate after successful 10 app downloads

2. Healthcare promoter with more than 20 “Male/non pregnant female” users get mention on the website : premaa.in for promoting mother-child care

3. Health care promoter with over 50 downloads in a month gets a special mention on social media.

4. Get more healthcare promoters on board will be interviewed on a live session.

Please send this to as many healthcare promoters you know (nurses, MBBS doctors, BAMS doctors) and help save these women’s lives.

About the Creator of Premaa: –

Dr Esha Chainani is an OBGYN resident surgeon working in Mumbai.

She aims to break the stigma around women’s health by advocating an inclusive and open practice of obstetrics and gynaecology.

Esha is the author of several internationally published research papers.

She founded Premaa, a non profit to reduce maternal morbidity and eventual maternal mortality by providing lower income pregnant women living in urban areas cell phone access to medically correct information proven to influence the outcomes of both mother and child.

Instagram: dreshaobgyn

Facebook: Dr. Esha Chainani