The National Health Policy 2017 emphasises on mainstreaming of AYUSH systems through integration and co-location. Further, this policy also aims to reduce maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 100 by 2020 and infant mortality rate (IMR) to 28 by 2019. CCRAS has undertaken the study to assess the efficacy of Ayurvedic drugs in pregnant women for management of anemia and other complications and it is being executed through CCRAS Institute at Nagpur , Regional Ayurveda Research Institute for Mother & Child Health (RARIMCH). The aim of the this project is to study feasibility of introducing Ayurvedic interventions in Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) through integrative health care services.

The study will cover 9000 pregnant women. The two-year long study will be conducted at 30 primary health care centres of Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. The participants of the study will be divided into two groups. One comprising 4,500 pregnant women will receive conventional ante-natal care under the existing national schemes of the government while the second group comprising of same number of women will be given Ayurvedic medicines, diet and lifestyle advocacy along with conventional ante-natal care regimen. The women included in the study belong to the age group of 18 to 40 years.

The current study has been based on a pilot study conducted on 2,465 pregnant women in Himachal Pradesh by the CCRAS in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the state government in 2000-2005.