How India is using breastfeeding training to lower infant deaths

In a warmly lit conference room, several dolls dressed in pink, yellow, beige, and neon outfits rest in the arms of attentive trainees. Dr. Rupal Dalal cradles a pink-clad doll against her chest, demonstrating the cross-cradle hold for breastfeeding. Her voice is soft yet steady as she guides the room, filled mostly with primary health care workers, or PHCs, along with a few nurses and pediatricians, who mirror her actions with their own dolls.

Outside, the January morning in Sanchi — a town in Madhya Pradesh, a central Indian state plagued by some of the country’s worst maternal and child health indicators — is brisk enough to require jackets. Inside, a four-day training session for 48 local health workers is in full swing.

Dalal, a pediatrician with 17 years of experience working with malnourished infants, moves through the room, observing the participants. She offers gentle encouragement, adjusts their techniques, and corrects mistakes with care.