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Young women and adolescents in rural areas are unable to access family planning and reproductive health information and services.

Since they have limited access to the Primary Health Center (PHC) being located far away. The health sub-centers (HSCs) which are closer are often not in a position to offer services due to various reasons including lack of trained/ skilled personnel. To overcome this barrier, FRHS India initiated Mini-COTs with the following objectives:

  • Provide a range of family planning and reproductive health services & information for women, adolescents closer to where they live
  • Ensure sustainability by building the capacity of the sub-center Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) through training, supportive supervision and on-the-job mentoring, so as to enable her to offer a range of services independently


Services offered

Mini-COT offers a basket of family planning and reproductive health services, which include:

  • IUCD insertion and removal
  • Oral contraceptive pills
  • Condoms
  • Follow-up and referral for IUCD clients
  • Family Planning counselling including post-partum family planning (PPFP) counselling
  • Referrals for clients who need limiting methods


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Mini Clinical Outreach Teams

How does Mini-COT work?

A Mini-COT is a mobile three-member team, consisting of a nurse, counsellor and driver-cum-assistant, trained and equipped to offer the spacing methods of family planning. The team provides services at the health sub-centers. The sub-centers are identified in consultation with the district authorities.

On predetermined days, the Mini-COT travels from the district headquarters to the sub-center. Community health workers (ASHAs, ANMs etc.) let local people know about the visit in advance.

A Mini-COT is able to covers two sub-centers each day and is therefore able to provide services in 36-40 sub-centers each month.