Strategies for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Survival

Posted Sunday, July 6, 2008

A Poster on the Wall

So, I've been in the Birth Center a lot lately; days, nights, overnights...... There is the time with the laboring women, of course, and their families and the midwives, but there is also time to just stare at the wall waiting for time to pass and for contractions to get stronger.

There is a poster on the wall to look at. A picture does not do it justice, although there are pictures on it of Mercy In Actions moms and babies. There is a classic pose of Vicki Penwell talking to a newborn baby with such love on her face and with absolute interest on the face of the infant. Really. I think they know what all she does to help bring them into the world safely.

And the graphics. Scott Penwell still had them on his computer, so I will share them with you.
They are sobering.

The Title of the Poster is:
Strategies for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Survival

The Problem: 1/2 million women die in childbirth each year, and
more than 2 million newborns die each year

The Strategy:

• Small free-standing birth centers staffed by licensed midwives; no costs to patients for maternity care--funded by private donations and outreach to the poorest of the poor
• Clean, well-stocked facilities, evidence based practices
• Immediate and exclusive breastfeeding; skin to skin warming
• Kind, gentle, sensitive attitude toward women & the birth process
• No drugs and no intervention in normally progressing labor
• Emergency drugs and skills for handling complications, less than 10% referral to hospital

The Outcome:

Both newborn and maternal mortality are extremely low; less than 1/4 the rate of the surrounding region. Satisfaction is high with this community-based, culturally sensitive maternity care. Women are empowered and children are healthier having gotten a drug-free start and breastfeeding immediately at birth. Midwives also educate families in basic child survival principles.

We Follow:
WHO-UNICEF Mother-Friendly Baby Friendly Initiatives for Birth


http://www.who.int/topics/maternal_health/en/