To ensure immediate availability of healthcare and treatment centres for mothers and their children, the Uttar Pradesh Department of Medical Health & Family Welfare has now come up with a mission to establish a total of 35 mother-child units (MCU) in different UP districts.

These MCUs will ensure that pregnant women and infants get immediate medical attention, whenever necessary without the need to travel to another district or zone. These will be set up across districts of UP including Lucknow and Kanpur.

These MCUs will be equipped with all the necessary equipment for testing and treatment procedures. Furthermore, each unit will have a total of 100 beds and around 1,750 workers, including doctors who will be recruited on a contractual basis.

Moreover, the MCUs will also include additional amenities including a 24 hour emergency facilities, a new-born care wing, X-ray and ultrasound labs and dedicated pathology labs.

The MCUs are estimated to reduce the infant and child mortality rates in the regions, which usually escalate due to a lack of treatment centres in the districts. The establishment of these units will further result in the reduction of the caseload in various women’s hospitals in urban districts.

Reportedly, the expenditure for the establishment and operation of these units will be drawn from the National Health Mission.