ASHA Monitoring Low Birth Weight Babies in Rural India.
ASHA is a simple hand held device used to monitor low birth weight babies in rural India.
About 7.8 million babies are born with low birth weight (under 2.5 kg) each year with almost 20% child mortality rate. Basic vitals of low birth weight babies, such as weight, height, and temperature, need to be monitored closely and accurately each week for the first 10 weeks after birth. The parents often delay to bring their child for checkups, due to unawareness, poverty, and poor accessibility to the nearest hospital. A grass root level approach is needed. The babies need to be monitored locally at their homes by the health activist, and advice needs to be given to the mothers. They need a tool to monitor babies easily, accurately, and in a hygienic manner. This is a simple rugged portable device that measures the baby’s weight and temperature. It has an built-in digital weighing scale and a IR thermometer, to avoid cross contamination. The baby’s growth progress can be closely documented in the personal baby blanket. This ensure on time care for the babies in rural India.