- Registered
Australian
Charity
Our work involves nine key interventions which are evidence based and designed to reduce maternal deaths by increasing supervised deliveries. These interventions address several reasons why women deliver in the village rather than the health centre. To reduce maternal deaths you have to be holistic.
Key Interventions
Encourage mothers to have a safe supervised delivery in their health centre rather than unsupervised delivery in their village. We encourage mothers to attend health centre for delivery bu offering a Mother Incentive Gift (MIG) to each mother attending for delivery.
We train, train, train ALL levels of health staff (Nurses, midwives, community health workers, nurses aids) at each health centre in Obstetric Emergencies and Neonatal Resuscitation so they are skilled at treating difficult deliveries and their complications. We train in the labor ward using sophisticated state of the art mannequins. We train all staff in neonatal resuscitation and management of haemorrhaging mothers.
We build traditional bush material waiting houses at all health centres so mothers attending from distant villages can come early and have a place to stay while waiting in confinement for the start of labour.
We provide market money for mothers whose home village is too remote to bring enough food so they can buy food from local markets
We pay staff bonus for increased supervised deliveries and in appreciation for increased performance. For the first 2 years we pay staff 20 kina for each delivery over their pre intervention delivery rate. This is shared equally among all staff with some centers receiving 2000 kina bonus.
We supply and provide training in family planning using contraceptive implants and train local nurses and health extension officers and community health workers to insert them. We encourage their insertion immediately after delivery for spacing of children and prevention of unwanted pregnancy in older women. We encourage no more than three children. Initially we purchased 1000 Sino implants to be distributed among the health centers we support.
We install solar powered lights and water into labour wards where necessary.
Supply emergency obstetric kits containing essential drugs, resuscitation fluids and delivery aids such as the Kwik vacuum delivery system
We give staff an emergency obstetric kit which also includes 2 x KIWI vacuum delivery systems and we teach staff how to use them and clean them.
We encourage husbands to attend Antenatal Clinics with their wives and to be present at time of labor and delivery and provide education through drama plays.
