Maternity Foundation

Most maternal deaths happen in low-resource settings, but the majority can be prevented if the women receive quality care from a healthcare professional. That’s why Maternity Foundation builds midwifery knowledge and skills among healthcare professionals in low-resource settings.   Join us in advancing maternal and newborn health globally  👉 maternity.dk 

Swipe the pictures to find out more about the Safe Delivery+ programme, which to date has reached more than 435,000 healthcare professionals across the globe.  Find more information at https://lnkd.in/d6vPy6Q6 

#SummerRead Together with one of the co-authors and partner at Mckinsey & Company, Anouk Petersen, our CEO Anna Frellsen was interviewed by Editor in Chief Andreas Baumann, Mandag Morgen, about the key findings from the Closing the Women’s Health Gap report.  The report shows that women, while living longer than men, also spend 25% more of their lives in poor health. On average, a woman will spend nine years in poor health, which affects her ability to be present and/or productive at home, in the workforce, and in the community and reduces her earning potential. The report concludes that closing the women’s health gap can boost the global economy by at least $1 trillion – annually!  In the interview, Anna speaks about maternal health as one of the critical focus areas and applauds the report for looking into links between women’s health on the one side and economic development and productivity on the other, underlining that investments in women’s health are not only the right thing to do but the smart thing to do, benefitting all of us.  https://lnkd.in/dPteZ4CH  

Collaboration with the Ethiopian Midwives Association! Together with the Ethiopian Midwives Association (EMwA), Maternity Foundation is implementing a project to strengthen the Ethiopian Midwifery Profession. The aim is to improve midwives’ access to training and networking opportunities through the Safe Delivery+ programme, and thereby support their professional growth and increase their motivation.     Activities include leadership training, professional networking and peer-to-peer mentoring, and attaining accreditation of the clinical modules in the Safe Delivery App, so that midwives can receive continued professional development points through achieving module certificates in the App.  More specifically, Maternity Foundation will provide training on the Safe Delivery App, host communication workshops and provide mentoring to support the EMwA communication staff. Recently, EMwA hosted an event attended by 200 midwives, government officials and representatives from UNFPA and UNICEF, where Maternity Foundation presented the Safe Delivery App.  The App, which together with the accompanying programme has reached more than 435,000 healthcare professionals in over 70 countries, functions as a job-aid and training tool for continuous learning for midwives and other healthcare professionals. It comes in four different Ethiopian versions, adapted to national contexts and needs, and five global versions based on WHO guidelines. Thanks to CISU - Civilsamfund i Udvikling / Civil Society in Development for funding the project.  

Maternity waiting rooms serve as temporary residences for pregnant women who live far from health services. By staying here before the start of labour, they receive continuous assistance from midwives during and after childbirth, thereby reducing delays in seeking healthcare and reaching the facility.  Maternity Foundation and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have built nine maternity waiting homes in Ethiopia’s Afar region, where most people live as pastoralists, trying to make a living as livestock farmers and seasonally migrating with their livestock in search of grazing and water areas. Here, the rate of institutional deliveries is notably low among the expecting mothers. Health facilities are often located far away from where the families stay and transportation to the facilities is often not accessible.   In the Afar region, the maternity waiting homes are modelled after pastoralists’ accommodations and are located within health facilities’ compound.  The impact of maternity waiting room is clear. Studies show that pregnant women who utilise maternity waiting homes are 80–91 percent less likely to die than their non-user counterparts. In addition, there is a 73–83 percent lower occurrence of stillbirth compared to non-maternity waiting home users.  Learn more about the impact of maternity waiting homes: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dqBAm2A3 ! Photo: Maternity Foundation / Mulugeta Wolde 

Maternity Foundation and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) join hands in Afghanistan! Maternity Foundation, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Afghan Midwives Association provide trainings for midwives in the country, who will then go on to train midwives in their respective health facilities.    In 2022, Maternity Foundation published a Dari language version of the Safe Delivery App, under the same partnership, with the goal of reaching more midwives throughout the country to ensure safer births and pregnancies for women and newborns.  With an estimated 620 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the country, Afghanistan is far from reaching the Sustainable Development Goals target of less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, emphasising the need to increase the accessibility of quality maternal healthcare for women.   The selected midwives work for institutes such as the Afghan Midwifery Association, the Midwifery Helpline, and the Afghan Nursing and Midwifery Association, and the trainings focus on clinical modules that are adapted towards the country’s needs.  

Proud to see Dr. Aditya Bhandari, Senior Program Officer at Maternity Foundation, speak about his role in the organisation, and the work, presence and future plans of Maternity Foundation in India in the अRAB TALKS podcast (in Hindi). Maternity Foundation has a longstanding and close collaboration with the Indian authorities on strengthening midwifery knowledge and skills, and on upscaling the usage of the Safe Delivery App, together with the accompanying training and learning programme. The focus is on areas of the country lacking behind the otherwise impressive progress being made on reducing maternal mortality at the national level. The Safe Delivery App exists in several versions in India adapted to national contexts and languages, and overall, the App together with the accompanying programme, has reached more than 435,000 healthcare professionals across the world. Listen to the podcast here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dZS8PZvi

In collaboration with the Nepali Ministry of Health and Population and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), we are pleased to announce the launch of the Nepali version of the Safe Delivery App. Together with global and national partners, we have been scaling up the Safe Delivery App and the accompanying programme across the world to support midwives and other healthcare professionals in ensuring safer births. Today, we have users in more than 70 countries. We are pleased to now also be supporting the Nepali government in improving the quality of maternal and newborn care for mothers and their babies in Nepal. In addition to the new Nepali version, the digital tool is also available in five global versions based on WHO guidelines (English, French, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese) and more than 30 language versions, adapted to national contexts and needs.  Read the press release 👉 https://lnkd.in/dVfAW9jy

#SummerRead Check out our CEO Anna Frellsen’s recent blog post on World Economic Forum's website on how to enhance skills and knowledge among midwives in low-resource settings where most maternal deaths happen.   The post is based on Anna’s visit to Ethiopia’s Afar region earlier this year. In this region, Maternity Foundation is working with the Ethiopian government, UNICEF and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on implementing an innovative midwife mentorship programme. In combination with our digital tool, the Safe Delivery App and skills-based practice, the programme is showing promising results in building the local midwives’ capacities to manage birth and common complications.

🌍 Did you know Maternity Foundation has reached healthcare professionals across more than 70 countries?  In 2005, we started out as a smaller Danish NGO working in western Ethiopia. Today, we have offices in Ethiopia, India, and Denmark and engagements in multiple countries across Sub Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, and Asia. In 2023, we also started to expand our work into Latin America and the Caribbean. Our Safe Delivery+ programme, including the Safe Delivery App, has reached more than 435,000 healthcare professionals, supporting them in ensuring safer birth for women and babies – everywhere.  The App is available in 5 global versions based on WHO guidelines (English, French, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese) and more than 30 language versions, adapted to national contexts and needs.  👉 maternity.dk