Increasing access to reproductive health services in eastern Burma

Description: 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Alternative strategies to increase access to reproductive health services among internally displaced populations are urgently needed. In eastern Burma continuing conflict and lack of functioning health systems render the emphasis on facility-based delivery with skilled attendants unfeasible. Along the Thailand/Burma border, local organizations are implementing a unique pilot, the "Mobile Obstetric Maternal Health Workers (MOM) Project", which establishes a three-tiered collaborative network of community-based reproductive health workers. Health workers from local organizations receive practical training in basic emergency obstetric care plus blood transfusion, focused antenatal care, and family planning at a central facility. Returning to their target communities inside Burma, these first-tier ?Maternal Health Workers ” (MHWs) train a second tier of local health workers (HWs) and a third tier of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to provide a limited subset of these interventions depending on their level of training. Close communication between health workers and TBAs promotes acceptance and coverage of reproductive health services throughout the community. We describe the rationale, the design and implementation of the project and the parallel monitoring plan for evaluation of the MOM Project. This unique model of health care delivery may serve as a model for new strategies for increasing access to care in other conflict settings.... Keywords: Emergency obstetric care, reproductive health, misoprostol, internally displaced populations, Burma

Source/publisher: 

The Mobile Obstetrics Maternal Health Worker Project (MOM)

Date of Publication: 

2008-05-00

Date of entry: 

2008-12-20

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Language: 

English

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