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Janani Express rushes expectant mothers to needed maternity care
Catch up with NBC News Clone on today's hot topic: Janani Express Rushes Expectant Mothers Needed Maternity Care Flna340615 - Breaking News | NBC News Clone. Our editorial team reformatted this story for clarity and speed.
Suman, a 25-year-old pregnant woman, lies on an examination table as a nurse places her hands on her stomach during a check up at a community health centre in the remote village of Chharchh, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, February 24, 2012. In rural Madhya Pradesh, an innovative free maternity ambulance service calledVIVEK PRAKASH / Reuters
Anguri (in blue sari), a 26-year-old pregnant woman in labour, lies on a bench inside a maternity ambulance as her relatives accompany her to a community health centre in a rural area near the remote village of Chharchh, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, February 24, 2012. In rural Madhya Pradesh, an innovative and free maternity ambulance service calledVIVEK PRAKASH / Reuters
In rural Madhya Pradesh, an innovative free maternity ambulance service called "Janani Express", which runs in partnership between the state government and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), is trying to increase the number of babies born in clinics where proper care can be provided to the mothers and newborn children, and infant mortality can be decreased.
Before this initiative, women would have been left to give birth in the fields or on mud floors. Now, the free ambulance brings pregnant women across dusty roads to health clinics where they can give birth safely under basic medical supervision, be nursed afterwards and educated on the importance of breastfeeding and hygiene before returning to their villages and communities.
Photos for this series were shot in Feb. 24, but were made available to msnbc.com March 6.
Pravesh Chandravansingh Yadav, a 25-year-old woman in labour, winces in pain as she tries to lie down on a maternity table at a district hospital in Shivpuri, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, February 25, 2012. In rural Madhya Pradesh, an innovative free maternity ambulance service calledVIVEK PRAKASH / Reuters
Anguri, a 26-year-old woman in labour, lies on a maternity table as she gives birth to a baby girl at a community health centre in the remote village of Chharchh, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, February 24, 2012. In rural Madhya Pradesh, an innovative and free maternity ambulance service calledVIVEK PRAKASH / Reuters
Women who have recently given birth and their relatives are pictured through a nurse's observaton window as they rest in a post delivery ward at a district hospital in Shivpuri, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, February 25, 2012. In rural Madhya Pradesh, an innovative free maternity ambulance service calledVIVEK PRAKASH / Reuters
