Project profile — Making Motherhood Safe

• Tanzania (100.00%)

• Health policy and administrative management:
Health policy and administrative management (12110) (10.00%)
Medical education/training (12181) (0.50%)
• Basic health care:
Basic health care (12220) (1.25%)
Basic health infrastructure (12230) (38.50%)
• Reproductive health care:
Reproductive health care (13020) (25.50%)
Personnel development for population and reproductive health (13081) (24.25%)

• Gender equality (not targeted)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (significant objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (significant objective)
• Nutrition (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

The project aims to improve access to quality health services for poor pregnant women and their newborns in Dar es Salaam and surrounding areas. There is currently a critical shortage in such services leading to unnecessary maternal and newborn deaths. Project activities include: (1) enhancing the skills of health management teams and health care providers in 22 public health facilities to provide quality gender-sensitive maternal and newborn services in emergency situations; (2) improving the standard operating procedures in these facilities; and (3) recruiting, staffing and training health care workers for a new specialized Maternity and Newborn Hospital in Dar es Salaam. The project benefits over 600 health care workers by improving their clinical skills, their work environment and the support and supervision they receive from health management teams. It also benefits more than 500,000 pregnant women and their newborns by improving the quality of care they receive. This project is part of Canada’s maternal, newborn and child health commitment.

The expected outcomes of this project include : (1) improved access to quality gender-sensitive maternal and newborn health services in Dar es Salaam and surrounding areas; (2) strengthened capacities of district and regional health management teams; (3) improved quality of care; (4) improved referral system; (5) better trained health care providers; and (6) improved procedures, systems and support services at the Maternity and Newborn Hospital.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (November 2021) include: (1) mitigated direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on increased maternal and neonatal mortality in Dar es Salaam; (2) ensured continuity of maternal and newborn health care services for the vulnerable poor in public health facilities by working in partnership with local government health authorities, regional health management teams and councils; (3) decreased maternal mortality in partner health facilities with a drop from 53 deaths between January and March 2021 to 12 deaths in July to September 2021; (4) reduced patient congestion by increasing staff in labour and delivery rooms in overcrowded health facilities; (5) trained 2,336 health workers (including 828 men and 1,508 women) in basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care, comprehensive obstetric care services, neonatal care and respectful maternal care; and (6) supplied personal protective equipment and essential supplies for basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care to protect health workers and enable service delivery.

• Proactive disclosure