Bangladesh

Maternal and child health

In 2023

40,715

pregnant women have benefited from our program

770,706

children taken care of

114

health workers have been trained for a better patient care

Improving the health of pregnant women, mothers and babies

Each year, more than 5.000 pregnant women die during their pregnancy or the days following childbirth. In fact, in Bangladesh women are not well informed about the risks associated to their pregnancy. Sometimes they are not aware of danger signs such as bleeding and pain. Very often, these future mothers give birth at home, without qualified health workers by their side, involving like that a huge risk for their own health and their baby’s.

Train the health workers, inform the women and involve the local community

In the center of the country, in Brahmanbaria District, where we operate since 2017, we offer advice training for the health workers. They learn how to better take care of pregnant women, mothers and their babies, and like that, improve the quality of care provided.

We organise maternal and newborn health education sessions in the villages and at home for the pregnant women and their families. A female team leader broaches subjects such as nutrition, the importance of prenatal checks, preparation for childbirth, danger signs for the mother and the newborn or the care to provide to the baby.

At last, we organise roundtables with the local authorities, the health authorities, members of citizen action groups and our partner BRAC, in order to identify the problems at the health centers (no access to water, no electricity, lack of staff…) and find solutions.

What makes us different

Midwives and health workers receive training to improve the quality of the prenatal consultations.
During health education sessions, pregnant women and their families learn to prepare the childbirth and better prevent possible complications.
We encourage the involvement of local communities in order to improve the facilities, access to care and its quality. The action of the citizen group allows, for example, to have a water pump installed in a health center; communities have provided ambulance-rickshaws to access health centers in an emergency.
Our project is co-designed with a local partner.

Sheik Akhtaruzzaman Rajib, health care provider, Bangladesh

Since I attended this advice course, I have experienced my discussions with pregnant women in a different light. Now I pay more attention to their pregnancy stories and take into consideration the family issues that can prevent them from being taken care of properly.