MaiKhanda programme sees more women access health services in Malawi

Women and Children First, a partner in MaiKhanda, has been telling its members how the programme is helping to cut the number of deaths among mothers and newborn babies in Malawi.

Zione Gwedeza, a community mobilisation officer on the programme, told the charity’s newsletter how she is working with women in villages across the country to educate them about the risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth, and to encourage them to access professional medical services.

Nearly 1,000 mothers die for every 100,000 live births in Malawi and 27 babies die for every 1,000 births because of complications such as haemorrhaging, prolonged labour and anemia.

The MaiKhanda programme seeks to reduce deaths during and after childbirth by empowering women to help themselves through support and education.

Zione works with facilitators, trained by the programme, to set up local womens’ groups who then develop strategies to improve care in their communities.

One of the ways the groups seek to increase access to healthcare services, she explains, is to raise funds for a bicycle ambulance so that more women can reach medical facilities to receive treatment if complications occur.

‘I feel very satisfied when it is clear the work I do has had a big impact,’ Zione says. ‘In Simlemba the hospital has reported increased attendance since the Maikhanda programme has been encouraging women to attend.’

Zione hopes that the women she works with will continue to develop and implement their healthcare strategies in their communities, and to see a real reduction in the mortality rate of mothers and babies in Malawian communities.

Read the Women and Children First MaiKhanda article (930 kb)

We are working in partnership with Women and Children First on the community outreach side of the MaiKhanda Programme, and with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement on improving the quality of health services.

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