Project profile — Safe Motherhood in Rukwa

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased utilization of maternal and newborn health services by women and their families in targeted districts in Tanzania; and (2) improved availability of quality maternal and newborn health services in underserved districts in Tanzania.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2021) include: (1) increased the percentage of women aged 14-49, with a live birth, who received antenatal care by a skilled birth provider at least four times during pregnancy from 59% to 69%; (2) increased the percentage of newborns put to the breast within one hour of birth from 49% to 55%; (3) increased the percentage of live births attended by skilled health personnel from 79% to 91%; (4) increased the percentage of mothers and newborns who received postnatal care visits within two days of childbirth from 45% to 80% for women of reproductive age and from 57% to 85% for newborns; and (5) increased the extent to which facilities use data to track maternal and newborn health services performance from a baseline average of ‘satisfactory’ to ‘high’ as reported by health facilities. Collectively, these results have increased the knowledge and utilization of maternal and newborn health services by adolescent girls, women and their families in targeted districts of Tanzania and the availability and quality of these services. Results from District Health Information Software data, which the project used to track community-level outcomes in Rukwa, indicate that maternal deaths declined from a reported total of 57 in 2016 to 45 in 2019, and perinatal deaths from 754 to 644. While results at the national level are not entirely a direct attribute to this project, these outcomes may have contributed to decreased maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. At the outset of this project, Tanzania’s maternal mortality ratio was 556 per 100,000 live births. The neonatal mortality rate was 25 per 1000 live births (both figures from 2015-2016 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator Survey). Equivalent Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey data is not yet available for the most recent observation period, however as of 2019, secondary studies show the maternal mortality rate is now 292 per 100,000 live births, and the neonatal mortality rate 20 per 1000 live births.