This month our team in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, hosted a 4-day training on basic obtetric and neonatal emergencies aimed at healthcare providers from faith-based health centres.
The training was organized by CUAMM in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene, and Universal Health Coverage through the National Maternal and Child Health Program (PNSME).
More than one woman dies every minute due to pregnancy-related causes worldwide; to date, maternal mortality rate in Ivory Coast is 385 deaths per 100,000 births. As highlighted over the training, common causes of pregnancy-related deaths include: postpartum hemorrhage (51%), hypertension and complications (13%), postpartum infection (4%), abortion (3%). These direct causes account for 3/4 of maternal deaths. Altough quite common in low-resource settings, these causes do not necessarily have to be fatal. On the contrary, they can be prevented with timely and effective care.
The training course was designed to give healthcare providers from faith-based organizations basic yet necessary competencies to manage obstetric and neonatal emergencies. Four main topics have been covered and addressed by national and international health experts, including contributing factors to maternal and neonatal mortality, crucial tool for monitoring labor and delivery, neonatal complications, post-abortion care and Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) plus two hands-on training activities.
The training also explored the three types of delay that are often referred to as a major contributing factors to maternal and neonatal mortality. Delay in decision-making, delay in accessing a healthcare facility, delay in receiving adequate care.
30 healthcare providers from different faith-based organizations participated in the training course on Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC). Participants had been identified in partnership with U.R.S.S.C.I.. The activity is part of a wider initiative carried out by CUAMM to promote access to quality maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and nutrition services, therefore aiming to support Ivory Coast national and subnational authorities to achieve SDGs 3.1. and 3.2. (Maternal and newborn mortality reduction) as well as SDG 2.2. (Reduction of the burden of malnutrition).
In addition, previous to that, a second training on infection prevention and control (IPC) was held in January in Abidjan for selected FBOs facilities staff. The training was a 5-day training of trainers (TOT) for key staff in order to make an internal cascade training of all the qualified and not qualified staff working in each facility. The IPC training was preceded by an initial survey on the existing IPC situation in each facility, utilizing the WHO Infection Prevention And Control Assessment Framework At The Facility Level to tailor the training on the most critical issues and to have a way of measuring baseline situation and subsequent improvements.
