Simple changes in health behaviour help fight anaemia- the success story of Mahesh
Mahesh lives in village Waliawas, on the Gurgaon – Faridabad highway. She was identified as a potential case of anaemia by the community health worker in her third month of pregnancy and motivated to attend the anaemia camp where her blood on testing revealed a haemoglobin level of 7.2gm/ml. Mahesh was motivated to undergo regular antenatal checkups and prescribed iron folic acid supplements and an iron rich diet.
Mahesh was motivated to use iron pan for cooking and also told about the importance of double fortified health salt. She made minor changes in her diet to include green vegetables cooked in iron karahi using double fortified salt. These changes helped increase her haemoglobin level to 9.8gm/ml by the eighth month of pregnancy. She delivered a healthy baby boy and continued with the post natal check up after that. She continued to focus on her diet and did not neglect on her IFA tablets during lactation. When last followed up, her child was one year old and her haemoglobin level was 11.2gm/ml.
Mahesh and her husband Inder have decided to keep their family small. With the help of the community worker Mahesh was sent to the government hospital for sterilization. Today she is happy and believes that she has learnt the importance to live a healthy life. |
