Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda launched the SUMAN Roadmap 2030, a comprehensive national strategy designed to transform maternal and newborn healthcare across India. The initiative aims to improve health outcomes, ensure equitable access to quality care, and accelerate the country’s progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The roadmap was unveiled during the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare (CCHFW) in the presence of Union Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel and Prataprao Jadhav, along with Health Ministers from States and Union Territories, senior officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and other key stakeholders.
Evidence-Based Strategy for Better Maternal and Newborn Care
Developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the SUMAN Roadmap 2030 provides an evidence-driven framework that aligns national healthcare priorities with local needs. The strategy seeks to deliver equitable, high-quality maternal and newborn healthcare while addressing regional disparities across the country. By combining policy reforms, healthcare infrastructure, digital innovation and community participation, the roadmap aims to strengthen India’s reproductive, maternal and newborn health ecosystem.
Life-Cycle Approach to Maternal Healthcare
A key feature of the roadmap is its comprehensive life-cycle approach, which integrates healthcare interventions from pre-pregnancy through pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. The framework also ensures close coordination with child health, adolescent health, family planning and nutrition programmes. This integrated model is designed to provide seamless, person-centred care throughout the reproductive and maternal healthcare continuum.
Strengthening High-Risk Pregnancy Management
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 places special emphasis on the early identification and management of high-risk pregnancies. The strategy establishes a structured monitoring system across four critical stages:
Antenatal care
Third-trimester care
Intrapartum care
Postnatal care
By tracking women throughout pregnancy and after childbirth, healthcare providers can identify complications early, deliver timely interventions and improve maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Targeted Action in 130 High-Burden Districts
To accelerate progress in regions with the greatest maternal and newborn health challenges, the roadmap introduces focused, time-bound interventions across 130 districts in 13 high-focus States: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. At the same time, the framework outlines strategies for all States and Union Territories to strengthen healthcare systems and achieve universal access to quality maternal and newborn healthcare services.
Comprehensive Support for Pregnant Women
For the identified high-focus States, the roadmap introduces a dedicated SUMAN Package for Pregnant Women to improve maternal health outcomes.
The package focuses on:
Early pregnancy registration
Complete antenatal care
Quality clinical assessment
Adequate institutional stay after childbirth
In addition, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) will conduct bi-weekly home visits during the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy. These visits will help identify danger signs at an early stage while providing nutrition counselling, birth preparedness guidance and support for institutional deliveries.
Expanding Infrastructure and Emergency Care
The roadmap also proposes several measures to strengthen maternal healthcare infrastructure, particularly in underserved and difficult-to-reach regions.
Key initiatives include:
Financial support for designated caregivers during the critical postnatal period
Special incentives for referral transport during obstetric emergencies
Establishment of Birth Waiting Homes
Expansion of Maternal and Child Health Wings
Development of Obstetric High Dependency Units (HDUs)
Creation of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) for maternal emergencies
These interventions aim to improve access to specialised care while reducing maternal and neonatal mortality.
Nationwide Interventions to Improve Women’s Health
Beyond the high-focus districts, the SUMAN Roadmap 2030 outlines several nationwide initiatives for all States and Union Territories. These include institutionalising pre-pregnancy care through folic acid supplementation for women planning pregnancy, strengthening nutrition programmes to address maternal anaemia and undernutrition, enhancing surveillance of high-risk pregnancies, and improving continuity of care throughout pregnancy and childbirth. The roadmap also promotes greater community participation through initiatives such as SUMAN Panchayats and Mothers’ Picnic, encouraging local ownership and awareness of maternal and newborn health services.
Driving India’s Maternal Health Goals
The SUMAN Roadmap 2030 represents one of India’s most comprehensive strategies to strengthen maternal and newborn healthcare. By combining evidence-based clinical interventions, digital health technologies, stronger healthcare infrastructure and active community engagement, the initiative aims to improve maternal and neonatal survival while ensuring every woman and newborn has access to safe, high-quality healthcare. As reported by pharmabiz.com, as India works toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the roadmap is expected to play a pivotal role in advancing maternal health, newborn care, family planning and nutrition services nationwide.