ACCESS celebrates two female health providers in honor of International Women's Day
08 March 2008
Annually on 08 March, people across the globe celebrate the achievements of mothers, wives, daughters and female colleagues for International Women's Day. ACCESS is marking the occasion this year by shining the spotlight on two female health providers—one in India, and one in Afghanistan—who are working successfully in very difficult conditions.
Manju Kumar Tudu, an ACCESS-trained ANM, doing a postnatal checkup.
Manju Kumar Tudu is an auxiliary nurse-midwife (ANM) working at a primary health center in Dumka district,
India. Since participating in an ACCESS 3-month training course to strengthen her maternal and newborn care skills, she has been very active caring for women and newborns in the nearby communities—conducting home deliveries and keeping good records of her work.
“I am happy that I received the training,” Manju said, “and am trying my best to provide services to the community members. Apart from my assigned area of operation, I am also getting calls from far off villages and they are also coming to me for antenatal care and deliveries. We have teamed up with community workers, anganwari workers, dais [traditional birth attendants] and are tracking all the pregnant women in the area.”
On a typical recent visit, Manju visited the home of a pregnant woman to gain the confidence of the woman and her family. This worked—and when the woman’s labor pain started, the family members alerted Manju, who returned to their house. Manju prepared for the home delivery, using her skills and equipment to deliver a healthy baby boy that night. She then conducted two postnatal visits for the mother and newborn, who both continue to be healthy.
The family said: “This was easy for us and less costly. We are now very happy for the services we received from Manju and will tell others about her quality in delivery services.”
Adela, an Afghan midwife.
In rural Afghanistan, another midwife—named Adela—is also providing high-quality health care to her clients. The National Quality Assurance Standards developed by the
Health Services Support project (HSSP) ensure that providers consider the needs and wants of men and women during service delivery. One of the standards states that a woman should be encouraged and allowed to invite whomever she wishes into the delivery room with her, including her husband. Another standard aims to ensure that the woman is as comfortable as possible.
Adela, from Panjab district in Bamyan, Afghanistan, did not need to be told to practice these standards. She has been making women comfortable during deliveries for as long as she has been a practicing midwife:
“I remember one woman who came to the clinic for her delivery and the delivery table was strange for her. She told me that she did not want to deliver her child on that table: ‘If I deliver my child on that table I will die.’ Then I asked her where she would like to deliver her child. She said ‘on the floor.’ So I cleaned the delivery room, put a blanket on the floor and covered the blanket with clean plastic. The woman felt very comfortable and delivered her child on the floor. She was very happy that she was able to do that and told me that she would return to her village and tell all of the women to come to the clinic to deliver their babies.”
Most of the women who deliver at Adela’s basic health center prefer to have their husbands present during the delivery of their child. Adela encourages this, as she sees the positive effects of having a caring husband present who can comfort the mother during delivery. Consequently, 50% of the deliveries she conducts in the BHC are done in the comforting presence of the husbands.
About ACCESS
The ACCESS Program is the U.S. Agency for International Development’s
global program to improve maternal and newborn health. The ACCESS Program works to expand
coverage, access and use of key maternal and newborn health services across a continuum
of care from the household to the hospital—with the aim of making quality health services
accessible for women and newborns.
Jhpiego implements the program in partnership with Save the
Children, Constella Futures, the Academy for Educational Development, the American
College of Nurse-Midwives and IMA World Health.
|
