No abstract

India’s current Maternal and Child Health Nutrition (MCHN) statistics reflect poorly of the country’s existing government programme. Experts recognize the phase of pregnancy and lactation as a critical window of opportunity for influencing the MCHN status. A clear identification and clinical assessment of government schemes/ programme that may have an impact on pregnant and lactating women can assist in identifying the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats in these interventions. The objective of the study was to review the government schemes for pregnant and lactating women. A review of all government programme and policies in areas of MCHN was undertaken using multiple strategies namely electronic reference libraries, journals, research papers and reports. The finding of paper identified the strength and weakness of government schemes and it proposes a coping strategy which might be useful for the policy makers in making the programme more enriching in order to implement the program with full potential. The threat analysis of these interventions has shown scope of improvement and areas of learning. The Indian government has implemented a number of measures that have a significant impact on pregnant and lactating women. However interventions focusing on health care needs, immunization, financial benefits are needed to increase the nutrition component. The necessity of nutrition was solely recognized in terms of providing adequate food, with no emphasis on macro and micro nutrients. This is an area where intervention should be strengthened. Index Terms: Government health schemes, Lactating mothers, pregnant women, Nutritional status, SWOT analysis.