“Me and my child were saved because of Janitri as I never thought of any complications and believed I will have a normal delivery. I owe our lives to all the good work they are doing.” – Kavita, Sobda Village
In the past 20 years, access to affordable health care has helped reduce maternal and newborn deaths by more than a third. Yet, despite this progress, an estimated 2.8 million pregnant women and newborns continue to die every year and most of these deaths occur in rural areas in developing countries.
Maternal deaths are nearly 50 times higher in sub-Saharan Africa with babies 10 times more likely to die in their first month of life, than in high-income countries. In India, a baby dies every minute (UNICEF).
For Arun Agarwal, founder of the Bengaluru-based start-up Janitri Innovations, the frightening figures are all too real. “Growing up in Alwar, Rajasthan, I used to hear that someone in the neighbourhood lost her baby during childbirth, someone died while in labour.”