Bhubaneswar, Oct. 13: Come January, expecting mothers from across the state can call up 104, a helpline, to seek advice and help.

The helpline number, which was launched today, will provide maternal and child health services to pregnant women and children till they are five years old. It will have IT-enabled tools and a tracking system to monitor health of the expectant mothers and the infants.

Health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, who launched the 104 helpline, said: "An exclusive mother and child tracking system will facilitate access to maternal and child health services for all pregnant women. It is designed to track the expecting mothers from the conception stage to post-delivery care, along with the care of newborns, for five years."

The call centre for 104 helpline with 10 operators started functioning at Saheed Nagar here.

Sources said that for now, the operators at the 104 helpline desk will gather information about the pregnant women in the state through government medical reports. The operators will call them up to collect information about their health and the visits by health workers.

"Now, the operators will call up the expecting mothers to get their health care status and tell them what to do and also enquire whether the grassroots-level health workers are visiting them regularly. From January 2016, people can contact the call centre to get their queries answered," said the minister.

The helpline at Saheed Nagar will handle 150 calls a day, which by next January will go up to 300 calls.

"From 2016, 10 more operators will be added to the call centre. While 10 will be engaged to contact the mothers and health workers, 10 will be answering the incoming calls," said health secretary Arti Ahuja.

The minister said: "The new 104 helpline will work towards improving the situation by providing information about nutrition and various immunisation doses."

Nayak also announced the state government's plan to introduce boat ambulances with ventilator support for patients and other advanced health care equipment in the backward areas of Malkangiri district. This is the first such service of its kind in the country.

State director of the National Health Mission Roopa Mishra said: "The state government has earmarked Rs 50 lakh for three boat ambulances under 108 ambulance category. After Malkangiri, it can be replicated in areas such as Hirakud, Satkosia and Chilika."

Though states such as Kerala and Assam have boat-based mobile health care units, they offer only first-aid services. "But, provisions of advanced life support system in boat ambulances will be introduced for the first time in Odisha. In emergencies, these boat ambulances can also serve as a labour rooms," said Mishra.

"There are 420 ambulances under 108 category. The state government has promised to add 92 more and three boat ambulances to serve the people better," said state head of Zigitza Healthcare Limited, a professional ambulance service provider.