Registration software helps unearth illegal abortions in Tiruvannamalai

A PHC medical officer, as a matter of procedure asked a Village Health Nurse to visit a registered woman who did not turn up for antenatal check-up for 8 weeks

Every pregnant woman has to register on a software, PICME (Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation), in Tamil Nadu. It was one such registration in Kadaladi Primary Health Centre (PHC) that helped district officials zero in on illegal abortions in Tiruvannamalai town.

When one registered woman did not turn up for her antenatal check-up for eight weeks, the PHC’s medical officer asked the Village Health Nurse (VHN) to meet her — a common procedure when pregnant women do not arrive for check-up.

“The VHN found that the woman had undergone an abortion, but was unable to get any details from her about the procedure. The medical officer reported the incident to us, and we decided to use the details of her antenatal registration to find out what had happened,” Collector K.S. Kandasamy said. He was not immediately able to confirm the gestational age of the mother.