Services Provided

Immunization Medical Tests for Pregnancy Post Delivery Care Counseling Medical Methods for abortion Infertility Treatment Pre delivery check ups Contraceptives

Areas Catered
Block 14 Rashid Market Shiv Puri Block 15 Block 13

In addition to a lady doctor support staff, a dedicated social worker employed performs field work through a survey on a regular basis and those desiring health care services are encouraged to come to the Regional Center. Talks are given by the social worker at places frequented by the labour class (e.g. the Labour Chowk near the center, the various Parks in GEETA COLONY and adjoining areas)

Infertility Treatment & Family Planning Services

The center uses a COUPLES APPROACH for infertility treatment whereby instead of providing of providing infertility treatment to a EITHER husband or wife, BOTH ARE REQUIRED TO COME TOGETHER so that the real cause of the wife not being able to conceive is ascertained. For providing Family Planning Services, a survey of eligible couples (those between 15-45 years of age) is done whereby their age, education, literary status , age of children etc. is collected.

Methods of contraception provided include :

Injection to prevent ovulation in females Pills Condoms

Designated Depot Holders are appointed at the community level and they are provided with the contraceptives to further streamline the distribution.

Immunization Services
The regional Center also provided extensive immunization facilities as per the guidelines of the Delhi Govt.

A dedicated Immunization Drive is carried out on 2 days i.e. Wednesday and Friday at the Center On every Thusday, the immunization camp is set up in the Muslim Dominated Rashid Market. The Center has tied up with a private doctor and since this private doctor is of the muslim community, the muslims in the area feel more comfortable in bringing their children here for immunization.

To keep a track of the vaccines administered to a particular child, a card is made and handed over to the parents, where the next immunization dates are mentioned. In addition to that, a record is kept at the center itself and mobile messages and calls are made (Contact Numbers are taken the first time the parents come with their children for immunization) to the parents in case they skip a particular immunization date.

Field Visit and Interaction with the Community

Interaction with Patients

1. First was a lady who had come for the pre-delivery check- ups. She told us that she had been coming there for the last 5 months and that she quite satisfied with the services and since there was absolutely no charge for these services, it was an additional pull factor for her. 2. Next we interacted with a couple who had come for the immunization of their first child. They informed us that they were indeed called when they missed a particular immunization date and they were always provided services immediately. Since the rush is at the center is less, they are also catered to vey timely and did not have to let-go of a days earnings. 3. Lastly we met with a male person who had come for infertility treatment. He had been married for 7 years but did not have a child. Both he and his wife are undergoing treatment at both the RK Puram Center and the GEETA COLONY Center. He had been guided there by a relative who had received similar treatment and was happy with the services.

Issues that need to be addressed

Through informal conversations with the social worker, we got to know that muslim community has always some religious reservations about family planning and such they are not very forthcoming. Since the clinic is situated in a muslim-dominated area and to provided reproductive healthcare services to the muslims too, this issue needs to be addressed. One possible strategy could be involve people of their own community (who understand the benefits of family planning) to reach out to them and encourage them to come fr4oward to avail these services. Another issue that the immunization schedule is more often than not, not completed. We were informed by the doctor that if a child does not complete the 9 month course, he is not considered fully immunized but is considered left-out. Due to the presence of a large migratory labour population, fully immunization is not being reached. Also sometimes parents forget and the center too is not able to reach them (the contact number they had provided, no longer work) One- way to counter this could be to increase awareness about the benefits of immunization further highlighting the successful POLIO Campaign and how it helped to weed out the disease from our country.
contd.

Issues that need to be addressed

When we went on the field to interact with the local people and gauge the awareness levels, we observed that the women in the area were very apprehensive in talking to us. It were only the male members who came forward. Maybe presence of a female social worker at the center would go a long way in addressing women health-related issues as the target audience could confide in them and tell her their problems which they cant to a male person.