About Us
We are a not-for-profit organisation that works in the field of maternal & child health. Our innovative work in urban & rural communities aims at reducing maternal, child mortality & provides women with the evidence-based information & care they require.
An alarming scenario:
In India, more than 289,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications each year. In 2015-17, India’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) was 122 deaths per 100,000 births (Census of India, September 2020). This is almost double the target set by the World Health Organization under the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG) to reduce the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 births.
Across India, there were 721,000 infant deaths in 2018, as per the United Nations’ child mortality estimates. That’s 1,975 infant deaths every day, on average, in 2018. The most recent national official estimates of neonatal and under 5 mortality rates in India are 21.7 and 34 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively (World Bank, 2019). This is far from the SDG 3, WHO target goal to reduce neonatal mortality to 12 per 1000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1000 live births.
Nearly all of these deaths are preventable with adequate prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care and education.
According to the Indian National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16), state-run primary health care centres, maternity homes and tertiary hospitals offer maternal health services, but often experience capacity constraints. These constraints affect delivery of critical health services to vulnerable pregnant women and newborns. Many target beneficiaries in urban informal settlements are unaware these services exist, and also demonstrate limited understanding of best practices that can enhance the wellbeing of mothers and newborns.
2021 Womennovator Award
Recipient
BBN Co-Founder, Asha Kilau, was a recipient of the Womennovator award in the WE PITCH Bangalore Series-2 for Asia’s 1000 Women Awards.
The award led to a series of webinars as part of a virtual incubation programme.
BBN gained increased visibility in circles other than the development / maternal and child health sector and birth professional sector.
Our Story
We saw a pressing need in the field of Maternal and Child Health and felt compelled to address it. We were mums and mums-to-be, professionals in the field: a midwife, a doula, a maternal health researcher, a yoga teacher/poet. We were influenced by our own birth experiences and of those we saw around us some demoralizing, some joyful, some yet to be realized. These stories and experiences drew from a range of settings and that diversity remains with us today. We had work experiences from rural areas of women seeking care, of international collaborations around efforts to improve maternal and child health, and individual clients who could afford good, compassionate care and struggled to find providers with this philosophy and skill.
We wanted more for ourselves, for the women whom we worked with and for women everywhere. We shared a growing desire with women for maternal health care that was more humane and based on actual scientific evidence as opposed to fear and the “business” of birth. Care more focused on touch, and technology when needed. We started with the very basic idea of committed women getting together to support each other and create change. And so the Bangalore Birth Network began.
Our Belief
We were founded on the belief that all women should have access to safe and evidence-based care in childbirth regardless of who they are and where they live. Giving women the necessary care and support helps ensure that new mothers and their babies have the best possible start to life together.
Our Belief
We believe that all women should have access to safe and evidence-based care in childbirth regardless of who they are and where they live. Giving women the necessary care and support helps ensure that new mothers and their babies have the best possible start to life together.
Our Model
Gaps in the maternal and child health care system and help women access the high quality maternal health care they need to give birth safely .
Simple, innovative, low-cost solutions that give women the power and awareness to make informed choices, rational decisions and demand better care.
With women and girls to understand their unique needs and issues.
The solution and measure the impact of our work to demonstrate its scalability and effectiveness.
Women by providing accurate information and access to quality, skilled pregnancy, birth and postnatal care
Our Values
Respectful maternity care is a human right. People’s autonomy, dignity, feelings, choices and preferences must be respected throughout their pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
Care-givers should listen to and honor the feelings of all women
Providing care based on the best available science; not other factors such as fear, business considerations or insurance constraints.
All people should be treated the same and receive the highest quality of care regardless of their status.
Our Values
Respectful maternity care is a human right. People’s autonomy, dignity, feelings, choices and preferences must be respected throughout their pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
Caregivers should listen to and honor the feelings of all women
Providing care based on the best available science, not other factors such as fear, business considerations or insurance constraints.
All people should be treated the same and receive the highest quality of care regardless of their status.
