The salient features of Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan are as follows:
- Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides a fixed day, free of cost, assured and quality Antenatal Care on the 9th day of every month.
- Under PMSMA, all pregnant women are provided services including drugs, laboratory investigations, ultrasound, and antenatal check-up by the OBGY specialist/ Medical Officer at designated Public Health facilities including DH, SDH, CHC-FRUs, non-CHC-FRUs, and PHCs.
- Obstetricians/ physicians from private sector and retired OBGY specialists are encouraged to provide voluntary services at designated public health facilities on the 9th of every month.
- Group Counselling is also provided to all pregnant women for diet, sleep, regular ANC check-up, institutional delivery, and breastfeeding including awareness about supplementary nutrition.
- Information Education & Communication (IEC), Inter-personal Communication (IPC) and Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) activities are undertaken.
The progress made under Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) since its launch and improvement in maternal health indicators are as follows:
- Since its inception (2016), more than 7.91 crore pregnant women received antenatal care services and more than 1.24 crore high-risk pregnancies have been identified.
- As per the Sample Registration System (SRS), India's Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has declined by 43 points from 130 per one lakh live births in SRS (2014–16) to 87 per one lakh live births in SRS (2022–24).
- First trimester antenatal registration of India increased from 58.6% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 76.2% in NFHS-6 (2023-24).
- Mothers receiving four or more antenatal care visits in India increased significantly from 51.2% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 65.2% in NFHS-6 (2023-24).
- Institutional deliveries in India increased from 78.9% in NFHS-4 (2015-16) to 90.6% in NFHS-6 (2023-24).
Government of India has adopted several approaches under the Abhiyan for early identification, referral and management of high-risk pregnancies, including the expansion of condition screened and the individual tracking of such pregnancies under the extended e-PMSMA strategy until a healthy outcome of mother and child. The key steps are as follows:
- PMSMA is based on a fixed day strategy, and it provides free of cost assured and quality antenatal check up by a Specialist/Medical Officer on the 9th day of every month.
- Early identification and clinical management of High-Risk Pregnancies (HRPs) through comprehensive antenatal check-ups.
- Name-based tracking of every identified High-Risk Pregnancy until 45 days after delivery, ensuring healthy outcome for both the mother and the new-born across all States/UTs under extended e-PMSMA.
- Provision of three additional antenatal check-ups for all HRPs, screened by Medical Officers /Obstetricians to monitor maternal and foetal well-being.
- Automated SMS alerts to beneficiaries and ASHAs at the time of HRP registration, reminders for scheduled visits, and follow-up appointments.
- Linkage of HRPs to the nearest First Referral Units (FRUs) to ensure safe delivery and timely management of complications.
- Provision of incentives for High-Risk Pregnant Women towards free transportation to attend follow-up ANC visits.
The following steps have been taken by the Government to encourage the private sector specialists and volunteer doctors to extend their services voluntarily to pregnant women under the Abhiyan:
- Provision of ‘I PledgeFor9’ Achievers Awards for acknowledging voluntary contributions by private doctors for PMSMA.
- Centralised PMSMA Portal has been created for registering private practitioners.
- Participation of professional organisations viz. FOGSI (Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India), IMA (Indian Medical Association).
The Government has taken several measures to further strengthen PMSMA, particularly in rural and remote areas of the country. These include:
- Provision of additional PMSMA sessions beyond the designated 9th day of every month under the Extended Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (e-PMSMA) for timely follow-up and continuity of antenatal care for high-risk pregnant women.
- Strengthening of individual name-based line listing, tracking, and monitoring of identified high-risk pregnancies through the centralized PMSMA Portal.
- Capacity building of healthcare providers at all levels for early identification, risk stratification, timely referral, and appropriate management of high-risk pregnancies.
- Early identification of high-risk pregnancies and referral linkages for timely management of obstetric complications and prevent adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
- Provision of case-based incentives to ASHAs for mobilizing and follow-up of high-risk pregnant women, along with transport incentives for beneficiaries to facilitate attendance at scheduled antenatal care (ANC) visits.
- Regular monitoring and review of programme implementation at National and State levels to improve service delivery and coverage.
- Promoting awareness through regular Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) activities.
The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Anupriya Patel stated this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
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HFW/PQ-Update on PMSMA/31 July 2026/1