Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) Provides Free Antenatal Care Services

Key facts

• Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda launched the nationwide celebrations for ten years of the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) under the theme 10 Years of PMSMA – A Decade of Care in New Delhi.
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) launched the PMSMA in June 2016 to provide assured, comprehensive, and quality antenatal care services free of cost to all pregnant women on the 9th of every month.
• A special 75 rupees commemorative coin and a 5-rupee postal stamp were released to mark the ten-year milestone of the PMSMA and recognise its contribution towards maternal healthcare.
• The initiative has contributed to an 86 per cent decline in the maternal mortality ratio, a 79 per cent decline in the Under-Five Mortality Rate, and a 70 per cent decline in neonatal mortality.
• Under the maternal healthcare framework, institutional deliveries have increased to 90.6 per cent, while the proportion of mothers receiving antenatal care has risen to 95.9 per cent.