Indian hospitals will share best practices to reduce maternal deaths by managing risks during pregnancy through a nationwide initiative called ProAct.

 

 

 "ProAct is aimed at proactive management ofat-risk mothers and reducing maternal deaths by connecting state-run and private hospitals across the country through about 2,000 doctors," Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India president Hema Divakar told IANS here Friday.

 

 The initiative will involve web-based interaction among doctors from about 100 hospitals across the country every month.

 

 "ProAct will feature the federation's members comprising obstetricians and gynaecologists sharing the best practices and case presentations on clinical issues related to at-risk pregnancies," Divakar said.

 

 The e-initiative also enables doctors to interact from their respective hospitals across cities and towns by leveraging on the convergence of technologies and facilitates continued medical education with the advantage of wider geographic coverage and larger audience.

 

 "About 60 percent of pregnancies in our country undergo delivery with complications, such as anaemia, obesity, gestational diabetes mellitus, and pregnancy induced hypertension, which are obstacles in the journey of a woman towards motherhood," Divakar noted.

 

 As pregnant women who are at risk need to be managed proactively, the federation will share the best practices to strengthen the system through ProAct.

 

 The federation launched the initiative Thursday here by conducting a video conference in which about 2,000 doctors participated from 85 medical colleges and hospitals and 94 medical centres across the country.

 

 The webcast was moderated by four experts — Uday Thanawal from Mumbai, Sanjay Gupte from Pune and Susheela Rani and Divakar from Bangalore.

 

 As a pan-Indian organisation representing practitioners of obstetrics and gynaecology, the 63-year-old federation has 219 societies and 27,000 members from across the country. 

 

IANS