Armman

About ARMMAN ARMMAN is an India-based non profit organization that leverages technology to create scalable solutions empowering mothers and enabling healthy children. We are committed to improving the well being of pregnant mothers, newborn infants and children in the first five years of their life. ARMMAN started in 2008 as a result of the experiences of Founder, Chairperson and Managing Trustee, Dr. Aparna Hegde, during her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Mumbai and is a product of her perseverance to minimize the preventable morbidity and mortality of mothers and children in India. It was 1:00 am and I was called to the emergency room to examine Aruna, a 25 year old with gestational diabetes, having her first baby. Aruna had been transferred from Thane civil hospital with her baby’s head delivered, but the body stuck inside, as it was too large to pass through. I will never forget the first sight of her: a beautiful frail young woman with the head of a beautiful dead baby sticking out of her vagina. Aruna died three days later. “Her death will forever stay with me. Not only because she died a most horrible death, but also because it was preventable… She had gone for her first antenatal visit but she had not been counseled about the remaining visits, danger signs, and potential complications. If only she had been… – Dr. Aparna Hegde, Founder, ARMMAN One of the major contributory factors for the maternal and child mortality is the lack of preventive healthcare information.When ARMMAN was conceptualised, there was an increasing penetration of mobile phones in India, and we realised that this technology could be leveraged for maximum effect to reach women and families with this critical life-saving healthcare information. Pregnancy and motherhood are not diseases and it is our belief that and that no mother, neonate, infant or child dies for want of care. This desire is captured in our name ARMMAN, which stands for ‘wish’ in Hindi. It is an acronym for ADVANCING REDUCTION IN MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY OF MOTHERS, CHILDREN AND NEONATES.