Launched in 2016, the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyaan has grown into one of India’s largest maternal health programmes. Over the past decade, millions of pregnant women have gained access to healthcare facilities, ensuring the safety of their pregnancies.
Rakshanda Gul
The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyaan (PMSMA) marked its tenth anniversary on 9th June 2026. Launched in 2016 to strengthen antenatal care across the country, the programme has grown into one of India’s largest maternal health programmes. Over the past decade, millions of pregnant women have gained access to healthcare facilities, ensuring the safety of their pregnancies.
The journey of motherhood is often described as one of life’s most rewarding experiences. Yet for many women, especially those living in remote areas or facing economic challenges, pregnancy can also bring uncertainty and health risks. Recognising these challenges, PMSMA has played an important role by making quality antenatal care more accessible through government health facilities across the country.
Importance Of Maternal Health
The health of a mother influences much more than her own well-being. It affects the health of her child, the stability of her family, and, in many ways, the progress of society itself. A healthy pregnancy increases the likelihood of a healthy birth and reduces the chances of complications that may affect both mother and baby.
The concept of maternal health is not merely related to the health care during birth. Maternal health refers to good nutrition, medical examinations, counselling, psychological help, as well as health care services during the pregnancy and postnatal periods. All these aspects help establish a better health environment for both women and their babies.
For a large country like India, providing quality maternal health services to all its residents is a difficult goal to achieve. Yet, the success gained in this area over the decades shows that constant dedication to the issue can bring positive changes. If moms are healthy, then their families will be too.
Maternal Mortality: A Continuing Challenge
Maternal mortality used to be a serious problem in India a while back. The women had challenges accessing healthcare services when they had emergencies. Delays in care, inadequate knowledge, poor dieting, and lack of adequate resources led to the preventable death of mothers.
While much improvement has been registered, there is still the challenge of maternal mortality. This could be due to various reasons like heavy blood loss, high blood pressure, anaemia, infections, and complications in pregnancy.
However, evidence shows that focused interventions can produce meaningful results. For example, the MMR for India decreased from 130 maternal deaths per lakh live births in the period 2014-16 to 87 in the period 2022-24. This 43-point decline in MMR over a decade represents far more than statistical achievement.
These improvements reflect the hard work and dedication of healthcare professionals, better facility delivery systems, better community awareness, and programs like PMSMA. However, all of this is not yet over. The last mile has to be travelled, and equal access to health care is very important.
Safe Pregnancy: A Vision For Every Mother
Every pregnant woman desires to have a safe and healthy pregnancy. This desire is shared universally regardless of place of birth, economic status, and social standing. A safe pregnancy implies that a pregnant woman gets the help and support she needs through the various stages of pregnancy.
Routine health checks enable health professionals to assess the state of pregnancy and address any complications before they cause much harm to either the mother or her child. The concept of PMSMA is based on such a fundamental principle. Through the provision of antenatal care checks for free every 9th day of the month, women are motivated to visit doctors more frequently.
Safe pregnancy is not merely a healthcare objective. It is a social commitment that recognises the value of every mother’s life. It is about ensuring that childbirth is a moment of joy rather than a source of fear and uncertainty.
PMSMA: A Decade Of Impact
Over the past decade, PMSMA has served as a vital link between the pregnant woman and the healthcare system. The scheme provides a wide range of services, including health check-ups, diagnostic procedures, nutrition advice, identifying high-risk pregnancies and providing referrals for special care when required.
One of the significant achievements of this programme is the identification of complicated cases which otherwise could have remained unnoticed. Early diagnosis allowed healthcare professionals to pay closer attention to such cases and treat them appropriately.
Another aspect of the success of the PMSMA programme can be measured by looking at the number of people it reached. Over 7.5 crore pregnant women received antenatal services in the framework of the programme since its initiation. For the majority of women who live in the countryside or belong to poor families, this programme made healthcare services available to them.
Doctors, nurses, ANMs, ASHAs and other medical workers made it possible for a successful implementation of the policy.
The decade since its inception can be considered a crucial part of the history of public health in India, as the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyaan. This program has made a significant contribution towards promoting awareness about maternal health and reducing maternal mortality.
The future will entail much more dedication to reaching out to vulnerable groups and filling the remaining holes in the healthcare system. Yet, the achievements made during the last decade make one believe that there is hope.
Entering its second decade, PMSMA bears its message is as clear and deep: “Every Mother Deserves Care, Every Pregnancy Deserves Attention, and Every Child Deserves a Good Start.” should receive medical help, every pregnancy should be taken into account, and every child should be born healthy. Striving for safe motherhood should become a priority for any country.
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