A Doctor's Experiments in Bihar: The Story of an Inspiring Struggle to Transform Maternal and Child Healthcare

Public health in India, especially maternal and child healthcare, has suffered from a long history of neglect and mismanagement. In addition, the rate of infant and maternal mortality are the highest in the state of Bihar. These two facts motivated Dr Taru Jindal, a gynaecologist from Mumbai, to work in Motihari District Hospital in Bihar with the mandate to train obstetricians in the latest surgical and patient care skills. But instead she saw that the doctors rarely attended to the pregnant women, basic medical equipment was unavailable, relatives crowded the operation theatres and biomedical waste lay in the open right next to the Labour Room. The same cruel pattern played out in the isolated village of Masarhi in Patna where she later managed a public health facility. A lack of access made the villagers wary of this doctor who prescribed blood tests and managed deliveries using forceps. And an added layer of caste exacerbated things further as upper-caste villagers shunned this doctor who walked into the segregated Musahar tolis.


In her two-year stint in Bihar, Dr Taru worked with the communities, counselling mothers and adolescent girls about reproductive health and tackling diseases such as malnutrition. She also collaborated with various hospital and district officials to equip local women and nurses in basic healthcare.


Gripping, eye-opening and inspiring, A Doctor’s Experiments in Bihar is a testament to how a few committed individuals can bring about significant change through sheer perseverance and compassion.