Prime Minister Hun Sen said that 18,725 poor women have received financial support with pregnancy checkups and giving birth since a government programme began on June 1.

Hun Sen said that from June 1, poor women received financial support from pregnancy until their child is two years old as part of a government social protection policy.

The prime minister was speaking at a ceremony on Monday marking the transfer of the Krousar Thmey School for the deaf and blind from an NGO to the supervision of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

He said he expected the scheme would reduce the number of babies born with mental and physical disabilities.

“There are three parts to this programme – the first is that pregnant women are to have four checkups, and will receive an allowance after each. In the past, they spent money when they went for a checkup, but now when they go for one, they will get money to help with their unborn child’s nutrition."

“When they give birth, we will give them further support, and after giving birth we will give them eight more allowances. I think that the number of babies born with mental and physical disabilities will be reduced through this social protection policy,” Hun Sen said.

The scheme aimed to ensure the good health of Cambodian people, he added.

Huot Sony, chair of the Equity Foundation at the Siem Reap Provincial Hospital, said that within a month of the scheme starting, his hospital had seen 17 women who had recently given birth, with them receiving an allowance after proving they were poor.

“We will give women allowances stage by stage, and there are 15 stages. Four stages are before birth in which they will receive 40,000 riel ($10) each time. On the day of giving birth, they will receive 200,000 riel, and after giving birth they receive 40,000 riel on 10 occasions,” he said.

Lay Sochab, 24, from Siem Reap province’s Banteay Srey district, said she had given birth at Siem Reap Provincial Hospital on June 4. Afterwards, the hospital instructed her on how to get her allowance, giving her mother a Wing card to collect her 200,000 riel.

The hospital also told her that she would get 40,000 riel each time she brought her child in for vaccinations as scheduled.

“I am happy that they supported me because I do not have much money. This is for buying things for my child. When I came to give birth, we did not pay money as we had a card proving we are poor,” she said.

Soeung Sen Karuna, a spokesman for rights group Adhoc, said the state was obliged to protect the health of its citizens from birth.

“We will have to wait and see whether the implementation of this programme is smooth. We will have to follow up further,” he said.

Vincent Doyle, programme development director at Save The Children, said the provision of such a programme showed the commitment of the government to promoting the well-being of women and children, especially the poor and vulnerable.

“We believe that it will contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals of Cambodia. We are happy to cooperate with the government in implementing this policy,” he said.

Ministry of Health spokesperson Or Vandin said that the ministry is working to implement the scheme as recommended by the prime minister and provide help for poor women from pregnancy until after giving birth.

“The health service is actively receiving women who have come for pregnancy checkups,” Vandin said.

Unesco has said that from 2000 to 2014, the mortality rate of babies and children below five years old in Cambodia had decreased by more than 70 per cent, while the maternal mortality rate sharply decreased from 472 cases to only 170.

This was down to better healthcare in pregnancy and after, as well as giving birth with a specialised midwife.