Project report: restoring maternal and child health services in Tigray.
Across Tigray, the healthcare service is struggling to recover in the aftermath of the conflict. This has lead to a terrifying increase in maternal deaths, as women are unable to access the care they need.
But, with your support, our partner Wings of Healing have already been able to restore maternal and child health services across ten health facilities. We wanted to share some of the highlights from their latest six month report.
1,346 women gave birth safely with medical professionals by their side.
5,601 women received antenatal care in restored health centres.
2,641 babies and children under five received medical treatment.
Key activities
1. Restoring maternal health services
Antenatal care
Across the ten restored health centres, 5,601 pregnant women have attended antenatal appointments. This number continues to grow, as word spreads of the re-established services.
These women, who were left without health services, can now attend their four antenatal appointments to support them throughout their pregnancy, along with access to vaccines and iron supplements.
Delivery and postnatal care
1,346 babies have already been safely delivered in the ten re-equipped health facilities.
Among these, three were twin pregnancies, and 16 new-born babies required further follow up and treatment for respiratory distress syndrome, hypothermia, and prenatal asphyxia. Fortunately, all were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and have recovered well.
Maternity waiting homes
Women with high-risk pregnancies and those living in rural areas face many challenges in travelling to healthcare facilities.
The six new maternity waiting homes that Wings of Healing have established thanks to your support mean that these women have a safe place to stay at the end of their pregnancy where medical help is close by.
"I feel incredibly safe here witnessing my fellow pregnant women deliver healthy babies while receiving excellent service. The health professionals regularly visit, educate, and support us, making me feel fortunate to receive such exceptional care."
- 216 women stayed at the maternity waiting homes during the reporting period.
- Women are travelling on average 13.5 km to reach the health facilities.
- 54.2% of women using the maternity waiting homes were made aware of the service during their antenatal appointments at the restored health centres.
Child health services
2,641 children under the age of five have received treatment at the restored health facilities.
During the first month, Wings of Healing’s team of healthcare professionals provided these services. These were handed over to local staff once the services were fully up and running again.
2. Training for healthcare professionals
Without functioning healthcare facilities, many healthcare professionals were unable to practice clinical care. To bridge this gap, the Wings of Healing team have been providing clinical mentorship and training for the staff at the re-equipped health centres.
They have trained local pharmacists, laboratory technicians, midwives and nurses. Participants in the training have expressed their appreciation for the WOH team’s dedication to quality of service, surpassing even pre-conflict levels.
This includes providing a portable ultrasound machine, enabling the early detection of risks. As many of the healthcare centres do not have ultrasound machines, they have implemented a programme to rotate the equipment among the restored health centres and provided training to staff in how to use them.
3. Awareness raising
Pregnancy forums
In order to increase awareness of the newly-restored maternal healthcare services, the Wings of Healing team are leading conferences for pregnant women and their families. During these conferences, maternal health topics are discussed in open and participatory forums. Women are encouraged to share their experiences, creating informal community support networks.
The conferences also deliver important health messages, including:
- Accessing antenatal and postnatal healthcare
- The benefits of delivering at a health centre
- Danger signs of pregnancy
- Breastfeeding and newborn care
They have organised a total of 30 pregnancy forums so far, which have been attended by 3,101 women. Many of the women have expressed their joy at having this support, a space where they can talk about shared experiences and raise concerns. The lack of ambulances is one key concern, which the team have raised with the regional health bureau.
Engaging community leaders and family members
Workshops are also being held with community and religious leaders, to encourage them to raise awareness of maternal healthcare. The participation of male family members encourages their involvement in supporting women to attend antenatal appointments and deliver at health centres. Religious leaders are also key in changing misconceptions, for example negative attitudes towards caesarean sections.
The impact of these workshops is evident in the increased number of women attending antenatal appointments, often with their partners.
Maternal and Child Health Ambassadors
Wings of Healing also work alongside a team of inspirational women volunteering as Maternal and Child Health Ambassadors. Over the six month reporting period, they have conducted 1,002 sessions conveying important messages within their communities including accessing maternal healthcare, immunisation, nutrition, family planning and women and girls’ rights.
We are so proud that, together, we have been able to support this lifesaving work so far.
Now, Wings of Healing have identified the next four health centres we need to bring back to life. We need your help to continue.
By donating today, you can help ensure women are not forgotten and prevent further loss of life.
Thank you.
