In many parts of the country, especially in those which are remote and with restricted access to medical facilities, home births have been considered something of a tradition, even as they increased the risks to maternal and neonatal health with greater chances of postpartum haemorrhage, infections, and delays in emergency care. For some years now, a quiet change has been taking place across many states. In Bihar, just two years ago, more than 40% of deliveries in 80 panchayats across 11 districts took place at home. Today, those same panchayats are leading from the front with institutional deliveries becoming the accepted standard of care. This has come about because of the government’s home delivery-free panchayat campaign.

Dr Meena Samant, director of obstetrics and gynaecology, Medanta, says, “Proper management of emergency complications arising during childbirth is possible only in modern medical facilities. Bihar’s home-delivery-free model........

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