3.7)   By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes

In 2010, LifeSpring Hospitals responded to the Business Call to Action with its commitment to expand access to affordable, high-quality maternal and child health care to low-income families throughout India. The for-profit chain of small hospitals aims to reduce pregnancy-related deaths and complications among India’s working class poor in urban areas. LifeSpring’s goals include opening 200 hospitals by 2015 and providing 82,000 women with high-quality maternity and reproductive health services. As of June 2010, LifeSpring Hospitals has delivered more than 7,000 babies, and its doctors have treated over 100,000 outpatient cases at the hospital chain’s nine clinics. The vast majority of LifeSpring’s customers fall between the cracks of the healthcare system in India. They are either too poor to benefit from private clinic care or they may not have access to any other kind of care. Therefore, LifeSpring fills an important gap by providing affordable, high-quality maternal health care to lower income women. By reducing the burden of maternal healthcare on low-income families, LifeSpring is helping to ensure that more babies are born with qualified physicians rather than at home in high-risk situations. Thereby this model contributes to the reduction of child and maternal mortality rates by increasing institutional deliveries. In addition, communities are invited to attend monthly health camps held at the hospitals to educate women and their families about proper maternal care. Pregnant women are given free medical consultations and vitamins and children receive free pediatric consultations and vaccinations.