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URC will participate in project to improve care for mothers and newborns in Ethiopia

URC will work in partnership with Emory University to improve maternal and newborn care at the community level in Ethiopia. The project will introduce an innovative approach to reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths by training community and family members to administer potentially life-saving first-aid skills at the time of delivery. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding Emory University to lead the Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership (MaNHEP).

Ethiopia suffers a high rate of maternal mortality, estimated at 700 maternal deaths per 1,000 births. Infant mortality is estimated at 77 deaths per 1,000 births, with roughly half occurring during the first month of life. Because more than 90% of births take place in the home, improving community-level services is key to improving care and reducing maternal and neonatal mortality.

MaNHEP will train community and family members who attend home births to use first-aid skills to ensure clean and safe delivery and to identify complications which require skilled care. For example, simple first-aid techniques may help to identify and slow postpartum hemorrhage until the patient is able to obtain skilled care.

In addition, the project will work with Health Extension Workers, the cadre of Ministry of Health providers closest to the community, to ensure postnatal visits in the period directly following and 48 hours after delivery. URC will train community caregivers—health care workers, traditional birth attendants, family members, and community leaders—to assess and improve the way they care for mothers and babies. Project team members will continue to provide support and monitor activities to evaluate whether care provided to mothers and newborns improves over time.

The project will take place in six districts in the Amhara and Orimiya Regions. URC will help to build the capacity of national, regional, and district health authorities to spread project activities to new districts.

For more information, please contact Kim Ethier at kethier@urc-chs.com.

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