Uttar Pradesh: The Story of Nursing Little Urchita Back to Good Health

A little step of humanity is making all the difference in growing years of Baby Urchita.

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti, the little girl weighed 2.4 kg when she was born. Her father worked as as a daily wager in agriculture and the family survived with limited means and on a meagre income.

To battle Urchita’s health challenges, her grandmother opted for treatments outside government hospitals due to perceived inadequacies. Unaware of the Nutrition Rehabilitation Center (NRC) in her area, the family sought help from private facilities but to no avail.

In the meantime, the Bal Raksha Bharat-supported Poshan Sarthu conducted a household survey in the  Urchita’s village and discovered that the little girl was in need of urgent intervention. Recognizing the need for additional support, guidance was sorted from higher project officials and healthcare personnel. Their intervention and understanding of the baby’s condition followed by sustained home visits by the Poshan Sarthi facilitated further action. In a coordinated effort, the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) team also started conducting home visits.

With the collective effort of healthcare providers and supportive discussions, Urchita’s mother finally agreed to admit her to the NRC. This decision marked a crucial turning point in the baby’s journey to good health.

After successful admission to NRC, Urchita’s treatment for undernutrition could be initiated. After a fortnight’s stay at the NRC and three follow-up sessions, the baby weighed 6.1 kg when she was a little more than a year old. Her health started improving gradually.

The Poshan Sarthi remarks, “In every challenge lies an opportunity for transformation. Urchita’s journey underscores the importance of informed intervention and unwavering advocacy for child health.” Urchita’s family gained massive awareness on keeping the child healthy and was happy that her health status improved.

Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 are schemes of Government of India which aim to improve the nutritional and health status of children. The scheme aims to improve the nutritional and health status of children between the ages of 0-6. It is also helping to lay the foundation for a child’s physical, psychological, and social development. A robust mechanism is being laid out to promote nutrition awareness and good eating habits among communities to reduce the incidence of malnutrition and to address any other nutrition-related deficiencies, thus contributing to the country’s human capital development. Combating malnutrition among pregnant women, lactating mothers, adolescent girls, and children has also been one of the key objectives of this intensive flagship initiative.

Bal Raksha Bharat, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is working in close collaboration and coordination with the district health systems under RBSK to intensify the awareness building process among families like Urchita’s. The objective is to reduce the incidence of malnutrition and to counsel the families to sustain such behaviour change initiatives among communities.

Soumi Halder

Manager-Program Campaign and Communication, Programme Support

“With over 20 years of dedicated experience in the social development sector, I am passionate about championing child rights and community empowerment through innovative communication strategies. I am Manager for Programme Campaigns and Communication with Bal Raksha Bharat (Save the Children)."