92 per cent of Nepalese women will give birth at home, only 13 per cent will receive assistance from a trained health professional and just under half will receive help and advice from a health professional before the baby is born.
WCF has experience of working in Kathmandu, Makwanpur, Hetauda and Janakpur.
Perinatal Training and Resource Centre: 2002-2005
This programme was run in collaboration with our partner, Mother and Infant Research Activities (MIRA), and was sponsored by the Big Lottery Fund.
Programme outputs:
- Developed training materials on safe motherhood and essential newborn care in collaboration with the Nepal Training Institute
- Established a national Perinatal and Resource Training Centre in Kathmandu
- Training courses for all cadres of staff approved by government
- All cadres of staff in Makwanpur district trained in safe motherhood and essential newborn care
A quote from MIRA:
"I on behalf of the project would like to thank WCF for kindly bringing this project here. With the help of this project, we have developed a good perinatal resource centre besides developing training materials on newborn care which have been approved by the government's National Health Training Centre. We have also trained hundreds of health workers and community based volunteers and traditional birth attendants on essential newborn care. We will continue its activities with funds from other projects. I also hope that we will have further opportunities for long term cooperation with WCF in improving the health of the mothers and the infants of Nepal. Once more thanking you and your team for all the support provided to us."
Prof. Dharma S. Manandhar, President, Mother and Infant Research Activities (MIRA)
Case Study
Ram Maya Praya is a grandmother living in Bharta village, Nepal. She took part in a project that trained all levels of staff including female community health volunteers and traditional birth attendants. All aspects of newborn care were covered, including the importance of a clean delivery, early and exclusive breastfeeding, and keeping the newborn baby warm and dry. As almost a third of newborn deaths are caused by suffocation (asphyxia), the training also focused on care and management of birth-asphyxiated newborn babies using simple equipment.
Nearly twelve months after the training a new baby was born in Ram Maya Praja's family. The baby was still and cold when he was born and the family were worried that he was dying. However, Ram Maya was able to revive her newborn grandson as a result of the training she had received from the project staff. She had remembered the simple techniques that she had been taught, including how to recognise the symptoms of asphyxia and the importance of taking immediate action. She was absolutely thrilled that she had been able to intervene and save the baby's life.
