Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health

Obstetric complications are the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age in developing countries, where more than half of births take place without the assistance of a skilled health worker. A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a one in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy—a rate 50 times higher than in most developed countries.*

IntraHealth is a leader in developing and implementing innovative, effective strategies to save women’s and children’s lives. Our key approaches include:

• Strengthening the skills and performance of health workers at labor and delivery
• Training and supporting health workers to perform active management of the third stage of labor (AMTSL), a proven practice to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal death
• Preventing and surgically repairing obstetric fistula—a debilitating, stigmatizing condition most often caused by prolonged or failed childbirth in the absence of adequate medical attention—and helping to reintegrate women into their communities after their fistulas have been repaired
• Educating communities to support women and infants through healthy pregnancies, safe births, and postpartum periods.

Read about IntraHealth’s partnership with Hope Phones and FrontlineSMS:Medic to provide mobile phones to African health workers who offer maternal and child health services, including obstetric consultations, safe deliveries, family planning, and malaria and HIV prevention and treatment.

Countries: Armenia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal.

Leadership: Sara Stratton, Director of MNCH/FP Programs

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*Sources: WHO, UNFPA, United Nations Millennium Project