Annual Report Dokters van de Wereld (Médecins du Monde ...

7d. Indonesia, Aceh - Mother and child care projectSave pregnancies everybody's business!Since 2007, Dokters van de Wereld in collaboration with the Indonesian government work toprovide care for pregnant women and newborns in Aceh. A project was started late 2011 for amother and child care project in the Permata subdistrict. The Bener Meriah district is a remotearea in the highlands of central Aceh. The people of Aceh, Gayo, belong to one of the most'forgotten' groups in Indonesia. The mother and child mortality is unnecessarily high. There is ashortage of properly trained personnel, lack of materials and a dysfunctional reference system.The distances to the nearest hospitals are large and because of poverty villagers often cannotpay for transport costs. In cooperation with village leaders and public health, Dokters van deWereld works to improve participation and care for women before, during and after birth.Activities 2011: Recruitment of project team and training in participatory methods for both thepopulation and health care personnel involved in the rollout of the program All midwives and medical staff in the subdistrict are trained on the theme of safepregnancies and births for which tailor-made training are being developed Establishing village health committees and the implementation of the birthpreparedness system according to the National Strategy of the Ministry of Health iskey. This system ensures that women visit a qualified midwife during the pregnancywhich includes a first visit within the first trimester Encouraging women to take care of blood donors and having the village create asavings scheme and provide transportation to the hospital. The community themselvescomes up with ideas, so the improvements in society are embedded Intensify sustainable partnerships and exchange meetings to improve referralsbetween villages and health facilitiesResults 2011: The project team has been recruited and trained in participatory methods Together with the Ministry of Health, district health authorities and health staff as wellas village leaders, an action plan was made in 28 villages to create a health committeeto implement a birth readiness system The implementation was started in four villages with information briefings. Furthermore,preparations were made with the development of training for medical personnel andmembers of village committeesNumbers 2011:Target audience:Personnel:Financing:Pregnant women and newborns, midwives, health workers in the clinic,village volunteers, district health care service1 international and 8 national employeesInnovation funds from Health Insurers, Maria Stroot Fonds, Dokters vande WereldExpenditure: € 53,93922