With constant monitoring and counselling, twins Lavya and Lavyansh became well-nourished

This is a story of the happiness and struggle of a mother and her family which is from village Shivnikhurd, Bagbahara block of district Mahasamund. Birjha Baghel and her husband Manmeet Baghel live together in this village. As soon as it was known that the daughter-in-law of the house Birjha Baghel was pregnant, an atmosphere of happiness spread all around in the house and the village. The happiness doubled when it was known that there were twins in the womb. Now the family started taking extra care. Meanwhile, the family also remained in constant touch with the Anganwadi worker Didi Usha Chauhan for getting registered at the centre and for regular vaccination and nutrition. The worker Didi and the supervisor kept visiting the house and providing services. Just seven months had passed when one day suddenly the pregnant woman felt uneasy and the family members took her to the doctor for examination. Then the doctor said to deliver the baby, for the safety of the mother and child, they got ready for delivery and on 13 March 2024, pregnant mother Birjha Baghel gave birth to twin babies through premature normal delivery. Due to premature birth, the weight of the baby was less than normal. The twin babies are 1 girl and 1 boy whose weight at birth was 1500 grams. Bagbahara

Mrs. Birjha used to come to the center in every nutrition choupal with her mother-in-law Prabha ji and kept discussing nutrition counseling after learning new things. Mother Birjha also consumed the nutrition kit. Activist Usha Chauhan has advised and taken care of this family from time to time like a family. Through continuous and active home visits, she kept motivating Birjha to do so by telling about the importance of nutrition box in the diet, the result of which was that the weight of the children started increasing and the child’s intimate relationship with the mother and other members was seen getting stronger. The children also started living well with their grandparents along with their mother. When the mother gave birth to twins Lavya and Lavyansh through normal delivery, it was a great achievement of the physical strength of mother Birjha that she was able to get nutrition counseling, education and medical facilities at the right time. All the family members never get tired of thanking the Women and Child Development Department. This kind of support was actively received by their family.

At the same time, the Nutrition Fortnight was also being organized by the Women and Child Development Department. While there was happiness in having twins, there was a big challenge to save and keep both the children healthy due to their low weight. This challenge was accepted by the Anganwadi worker Didi and the Women and Child Development team along with the family and they got together to make them healthy and well-nourished. Keeping in mind the advice of the worker, mother Birjha and grandmother Prabha Bai themselves said in the hospital that the baby should be breastfed within 1 hour, which showed their awareness there and the mother breastfed. After that, they kept giving advice to the family by doing continuous home visits and health counseling. She was advised to exclusively breastfeed and Kangaroo Mother Care and its importance was demonstrated to her husband and family. All the members of the family understood and followed it.