Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective example
Andrew Browning,1,2 Birhanu Menber21Maternity Africa, Arusha, Tanzania; 2Vision Maternity Care, Barhirdar, Ethiopia Objectives: To determine the impact of volunteer obstetricians and midwife teams on obstetric services in a rural hospital in Ethiopia.Methods: The intervention was undertaken in Mota...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Dove Medical Press
2015-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Women's Health |
| Online Access: | http://www.dovepress.com/reducing-maternal-morbidity-and-mortality-in-the-developing-world-a-si-peer-reviewed-article-IJWH |
| _version_ | 1818937284541546496 |
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| author | Browning A Menber B |
| author_facet | Browning A Menber B |
| author_sort | Browning A |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Andrew Browning,1,2 Birhanu Menber21Maternity Africa, Arusha, Tanzania; 2Vision Maternity Care, Barhirdar, Ethiopia Objectives: To determine the impact of volunteer obstetricians and midwife teams on obstetric services in a rural hospital in Ethiopia.Methods: The intervention was undertaken in Mota district hospital, a rural hospital in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, which is the only hospital for 1.2 million people. Before the placement of volunteer teams it had a rudimentary basic obstetric service, no blood transfusion service, and no operative delivery. The study prospectively analyzed delivery data before, during, and after the placement of volunteer obstetrician and midwife teams. The volunteers established emergency obstetric care, and trained and supervised local staff over a 3-year period. Measurable outcomes consisted of the number of women delivering, the number of referrals of pregnant women, the number of maternal deaths, and the number of referrals of obstetric fistula patients.Results: With the establishment of the service the number of women attending hospital for delivery increased by 40%. In the hospital maternal mortality decreased from 7.1% to <0.5%, and morbidity, as measured by number of obstetric fistulae, decreased from 1.5% deliveries to 0.5% over the 3-year intervention period. The improvements were sustained after handing the project back to the government.Conclusion: The placement of volunteer teams was an effective method of decreasing maternal mortality and morbidity. Keywords: emergency obstetric care, volunteers, obstetric fistula, emergency obstetric care |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T05:49:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0605a6cb08f245a683675073734966b1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1179-1411 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T05:49:31Z |
| publishDate | 2015-02-01 |
| publisher | Dove Medical Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Women's Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-0605a6cb08f245a683675073734966b12022-12-21T19:51:13ZengDove Medical PressInternational Journal of Women's Health1179-14112015-02-012015default15515920283Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective exampleBrowning AMenber BAndrew Browning,1,2 Birhanu Menber21Maternity Africa, Arusha, Tanzania; 2Vision Maternity Care, Barhirdar, Ethiopia Objectives: To determine the impact of volunteer obstetricians and midwife teams on obstetric services in a rural hospital in Ethiopia.Methods: The intervention was undertaken in Mota district hospital, a rural hospital in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, which is the only hospital for 1.2 million people. Before the placement of volunteer teams it had a rudimentary basic obstetric service, no blood transfusion service, and no operative delivery. The study prospectively analyzed delivery data before, during, and after the placement of volunteer obstetrician and midwife teams. The volunteers established emergency obstetric care, and trained and supervised local staff over a 3-year period. Measurable outcomes consisted of the number of women delivering, the number of referrals of pregnant women, the number of maternal deaths, and the number of referrals of obstetric fistula patients.Results: With the establishment of the service the number of women attending hospital for delivery increased by 40%. In the hospital maternal mortality decreased from 7.1% to <0.5%, and morbidity, as measured by number of obstetric fistulae, decreased from 1.5% deliveries to 0.5% over the 3-year intervention period. The improvements were sustained after handing the project back to the government.Conclusion: The placement of volunteer teams was an effective method of decreasing maternal mortality and morbidity. Keywords: emergency obstetric care, volunteers, obstetric fistula, emergency obstetric carehttp://www.dovepress.com/reducing-maternal-morbidity-and-mortality-in-the-developing-world-a-si-peer-reviewed-article-IJWH |
| spellingShingle | Browning A Menber B Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective example International Journal of Women's Health |
| title | Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective example |
| title_full | Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective example |
| title_fullStr | Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective example |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective example |
| title_short | Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world: a simple, cost-effective example |
| title_sort | reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing world a simple cost effective example |
| url | http://www.dovepress.com/reducing-maternal-morbidity-and-mortality-in-the-developing-world-a-si-peer-reviewed-article-IJWH |
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