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