Project profile — Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health in Six Districts of Rural Tanzania

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: increased utilization of maternal and reproductive health services by women and adolescent girls in the target communities; improved quality of maternal and reproductive health services at government health facilities in the target districts; and strengthened management and accountability for maternal and reproductive health services in Tabora region.

Results achieved as of the end of the project in March 2015 include: (1) 80% of deliveries are now taking place in health facilities, up from 46% in 2010; (2) 57% of women aged 15 – 49 with a live birth received antenatal care by a skilled health provider at least 4 times during pregnancy, up from 17% in 2010; (3) Client satisfaction with health facility services such as family planning, antenatal care, post-natal care and deliveries was 90%, up from 52% in 2012. (4) All six district governments in Tabora region are now setting targets to improve maternal, newborn and child health based on health facility data compared to only one district in 2012. Results achieved as of March 2014 include: (1) 983 community health workers were trained to provide health education and encourage households to seek MNCH services through home visits in their communities; (2) these newly trained community health workers conducted 25,363 home visits collectively; (3) 268 health workers from 154 facilities were trained on basic emergency obstetric and newborn care ; and (4) 290 health care workers were trained on family planning and sexual and reproductive health services, of which 117 health workers were trained on short-term family planning methods and another 155 on long-term methods. These results have contributed to increasing women and adolescent girls’ use of maternal and reproductive health services and improving the quality of maternal and reproductive health services at government health facilities in the target districts.