In 1996, Aparna Hegde was a resident doctor at Sion Hospital, one of Mumbai?s largest public health facilities, when a woman who had just delivered a baby was rushed into emergency care. ??The baby was dead, it?s body stuck inside?, recalls Hegde. The woman too died a few days later. ??She was given a cursory check at her first antenatal visit and not told about potential complications and the need for regular checkups. She developed gestational diabetes in the sixth month.? Such preventable deaths, Hegde soon realized, were far too common. ??The antenatal OPDs were extremely crowded so there was just enough time for a quick examination,? she says. ?We could not offer any counseling. Nothing is worse than to see a woman dying in labour and to realize that you did not give her the information that could have saved her life. Doctors, the government and public health professionals preach that women must come to hospitals for antenatal care, but when they do we fail them.? These experiences led her to conceive of mMitra - a free mobile voice call service that gives information on preventive care and simple interventions to reduce maternal and infant deaths. The messages are specific to the stage of pregnancy or the baby?s age. They are given in the language of choice and sent weekly or twice a week. Read More?at www.wap.business-standard.com