Enabling easy access to pregnancy-related health info for government hospital patients

Crowds pour into two of the major government maternity hospitals in Chennai, and most often, ensuring that pregnancy-related health information reaches the women and their families is tough. To enable easy access to information and create more awareness among pregnant women and their families, a post graduate (PG) medical student has developed a QR code that will connect to a website containing all pregnancy-related information.

A. Vidhya, who has completed Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and is currently in her final year of post graduation in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Madras Medical College, developed the QR code, which when scanned will connect to www.iogkgh.org.in, a common website for the two hospitals — Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Egmore and Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children, Triplicane. Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) dean E. Theranirajan launched the service.

The QR code has been displayed at antenatal outpatient units at the two hospitals. “The website contains pregnancy-related details, including complications such as what they should do in case of a heart disease or if they have hypertension or diabetes. The information is available in both English and Tamil for easy access,” she said.

Information on various aspects, including antenatal care, such as on investigations to be done and medications to be taken, early pregnancy complications, hypertension in pregnancy, cardiac disease in pregnancy and anaemia in pregnancy are available on the website. “It was the need to bring more awareness to pregnant women and their family members that led me to this initiative. Almost all persons have smartphones. They can access the information at any time and ask doubts during their hospital visits,” she said.

A healthy pregnancy requires more than just medical care. Pregnant women need guidance on managing complications and understanding potential risks. Empowering women with knowledge on self-care and child protection is essential, and hence, the website was launched to provide critical information on pregnancy care, a press release from RGGGH, said.

Dr. Vidhya added that they plan to add more features, including videos on the website.

Published - October 05, 2024 08:54 pm IST