Project profile — Securing the Lives of Mothers and Infants

Results achieved as of the end of the project (September 2015) include: (1) eight waiting and delivery rooms were constructed and 13 health centres were equipped to provide essential mother and child health services; (2) 53 midwives and 160 traditional birth attendants were trained on safe birthing practices, including referring pregnant women to health centres when needed; (3) 23,935 people, including more than 10,000 men, attended awareness raising sessions on how to prevent illnesses impacting mothers and children under five; (4) health centers staff, including midwives and traditional birth attendants having increased their ability to administer appropriate maternal care has increased to 88.5%, which is above the target of 50.0%; (5) live births attended by skilled health personnel increased from 46% at the beginning of the project to 70.7%, which is above the target of 55.0%; (6) mothers’ levels of confidence regarding consulting their partners on reproductive health and childhood illness issues increased from 69.6% to 90.2%, which is above the target of 90.0%; and (7) the level of satisfaction among pregnant women and mothers regarding the availability of skilled professionals for their deliveries at health centres increased from 50.4% to 78.7%, which is above the target of 70%. These results are contributing to improving health facilities and systems capacities, improving the quality of health care, and improving women’s health care practices.