Where We Work > Africa > Benin

Benin

For nearly a decade, IntraHealth International collaborated with the Ministry of Health and the private sector in Benin to make high-quality family health services widely accessible and available, including family planning, maternal and neonatal health care, emergency obstetric care, and services that provided integrated management of childhood illnesses. In Benin, IntraHealth collaborated with the Ministry of Health’s Department of Family Health to strengthen its capacity to offer quality pre-service and in-service training; improve the ability of nurses, midwives, and community health workers to provide high-quality maternal and pediatric care as well as family planning services; and expand the use of national family health policies, norms, and procedures. 

Achievements (1998-2006)

  • IntraHealth supported the training of more than 200 private-sector providers in family planning and the Performance Improvement Approach in Borgou/Alibori, Zou/Collines, and Ouéme/Plateau regions in collaboration with PROFAM social franchise clinics. Project staff also updated and expanded documentation of appropriate norms and protocols and training materials, organized and trained teams of national and regional trainers, and pioneered the Performance Improvement Approach. 
  • IntraHealth trained private-sector pharmacists to deliver family planning counseling and services, including oral contraceptives, using an innovative and self-directed learning approach. Following the training, participants scored between 160-170% better when tested on knowledge about counseling and clients’ rights.
  • IntraHealth’s work significantly improved health providers’ knowledge and ability to apply national protocols in the regions of Borgou/Alibori, Atlantique/Littoral, and Mono/Couffo. Providers were trained on the protocols using a site-based approach and a blend of traditional classroom training, tutoring, and self-directed learning. Following the trainings, providers showed improvements when tested on appropriate protocols in pediatric care, infection prevention, the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, and maternal care. 
  • IntraHealth launched key interventions to improve emergency obstetric and neonatal care, which included strengthening managerial capacity to support emergency obstetric and neonatal care services; improving provider performance at maternity centers; teaching community health workers and family members to recognize and respond to danger signs in pregnancy and delivery; and establishing community partnerships to respond to emergencies. These interventions were created to respond specifically to the issues identified in a performance needs assessment in the Malanville/Karimama health zone in the Borgou/Alibori region.
  • IntraHealth trained more than 120 skilled birth attendants to practice active management of the third stage of labor (AMSTL) for vaginal births at seven pilot sites in Benin, which significantly decreased postpartum hemorrhage and led the Department of Family Health to initiate a national scale-up of AMTSL, with support from USAID/Benin and the ACQUIRE Project. 
  • IntraHealth established services for postabortion care, including family planning services, in three pilot sites. 

Past Projects