01-4532698
Respectful Maternity and Neonatal Health Promotion Project
Improving the health of urban mothers and their newborns during COVID-19 crisis in Nepal
Description of the Project
The people, who settled in the industrial areas, have been heavily affected by COVID, directly due to contracting the infection because of lack of information and protection means, and indirectly by the economic crisis. Moreover, during the COVID crisis, the fragile primary and secondary health system in slums have not been able to respond to the needs: Health facility staffs including nurses, paramedical and administrative staffs were working with limited resources.
Pregnancy and childbirth are still a leading cause of death, disease and disability among women of reproductive age in Nepal: The National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2016 showed that maternal mortality ratio in Nepal was 239 per 100,000 live birth. Only about 59% of the women complete the 4 recommended ANCs during pregnancy. According to country data, only 56.2 % of women complete the 4 recommended ANCs and 16.4% complete the PNC check-ups in the district of Lumbini.
Objectives
The project aims at contributing to improve the health of women and newborns living in the slums of industrial areas of the Kapilbastu, Rupandehi and Nawalparasi West districts targeting improvements in two components of care. The first component, at community level, targets urban pregnant women and new mothers, improving their knowledge to seek skilled MNH care and protect themselves, their babies and their families. The second component, at health facility level, strengthens the capacities of health facility staffs to protect themselves from COVID infection, to protect pregnant women, new mothers, and their babies and to provide respectful MNH care. This project also strengthens the health staff’s skills to respect women and newborns during MNH care, effectively counsel and communicate with women, their partners and families during routine and emergency care in pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal periods. Health facility teams will develop knowledge on the rights of women and newborns to health and to high quality care before, during and after childbirth, including for women.
Implementation Strategies
The project will be implemented in collaboration with municipalities and Health Facility Operation and Management Committees (HFOMCs). Depending on the success of the implementation phase, based on the monitoring data an analysis will be conducted at the end of 2023 in view of scaling up the project component on respectful care and replicating the activities in other health facilities with the support of the local governments.
Key Focus of the Project
Outcomes, indicators and activities
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