Health
Is Everywhere

Main Funder: UK AID  Where: Bunda and Tarime Districts, Tanzania

This two-year project was carried out in Tanzania’s Bunda and Tarime Districts. It was designed to address the leading causes of maternal and newborn mortality and to demonstrate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of implementing a distribution system of safe birth kits to pregnant women.​It is estimated that 454 women per 100,000 (2010) in Tanzania die during childbirth, and nearly 50,000 Tanzanian babies are stillborn, almost half of them dying during childbirth. The leading causes of maternal and newborn mortality in Tanzania’s Mara Region are post-partum haemorrhage (35 per cent) and infections (15 per cent).​The death of mothers has a catastrophic impact on families, and is directly related to neonatal and childhood deaths because the absence of a mother compromises the care of infants and children. Through the Saving Mothers Project, 118 Community Health Workers (CHWs) and 42 Dispensary Nurses participated in specialized Maternal, Newborn and Child Health training. Topics included the care of pregnant women, safe delivery, identification of potential high-risk pregnancies and recognizing “danger signs”, pre- and post-natal nutrition, ante-natal and post-natal care, community integrated management of childhood illness, HIV and how to prevent vertical transmission of the virus, and human rights.One of the most important roles of CHWs is to encourage women to visit health facilities and avail themselves of the full range of pre- and post-natal medical care available and, whenever possible, to have their baby delivered at a health facility.​

 

During the project’s two years of implementation, CPAR has helped:

• Support over 3,000 women access antenatal and post-natal care.

• Distribute 1,800 Safe-Birth kits.

• Train 118 community health workers on safe birthing practices, identifying high-risk pregnancies and labour, and the importance of post-natal care.  

• Safely deliver over 2,500 babies.

• Provide 160 mobile phones to community health workers and nurses. This has allowed them to alert local health clinics and hospitals about pregnant women, their expected delivery date and any risks associated with the pregnancy, ensuring that these women are provided with the care they need to deliver a healthy baby.