The hotline that became a lifeline for expectant mothers

0
190

Swetanjali Jha’s mornings are dictated by the clock. Wake up at 5:00. Get the children ready for school by 6:30. Prepare breakfast and lunch for her family of 11 by 9:30. Then leave for work at 9:45. She’ll spend the next eight hours weaving through a cluster of villages in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, checking on coughs that might indicate tuberculosis and speaking with pregnant women, and new mothers in need of baby care advice. The 32-year-old community healthcare worker has no time to linger.