7. SMTIs

In Karnataka, Aastrika Foundation has set up three SMTIs at Bangalore, Belagavi and Mysore and have trained sixty-five Practitioners, as of June 2025.

The following are steps we have taken to set up these SMTIs: - Identify the government facility in which the SMTI will be set up.

- Get the necessary permissions to depute the Educator cohort to come to the NMTI for training for six months.

- Work with the government health facility to first build rapport and then create awareness about the NPM programme among relevant officers.

- Negotiate space for both a classroom and an MLCU.

- Conduct an orientation about the NPM programme and the role of the midwives for all the care providers within the facility.

- Share SOPs, and other relevant documents with the clinical team, and begin working with them on the floor.

- Share all data we have collected and build trust so that the midwifery model of care gets more acceptance from doctors and nurses.