ADI runs Emergency Obstetrics and Neonatal Care training workshops with health workers in rural areas of Western Province, New Ireland and West New Britain.
Context:
• In Papua New Guinea, maternal mortality ratio is unacceptably high, at 215 to 900 per 100,000 live births (in Australian it is only 20 per 100,000)
• Only 56.5% of births are attended by a skilled birth attendant
• There is a low health workforce density of 1.36 health workers per 1000 population (WHO recommends a minimum of 4.45 health workers per 1000 population) – this figure is even lower in rural areas where ADI predominantly works.
• There is a lack of continuing professional education of health workers, and an ageing health workforce.
Our aim:
• To improve and upskill the maternal and neonatal skills of rural health workers
• Educate health staff in obstetric and neonatal care skills
• Teach trainees how to respond to and deliver respectful maternity care, post-partum haemorrhage, manual removal of the placenta, puerperal sepsis, neonatal sepsis, early essential newborn care, neonatal resuscitation, and kangaroo mother care
• Train more health workers with the skills needed to be able to save more lives and positively impact on national maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
•For more health workers to have the confidence, knowledge and skills to safely manage births and positively impact on national maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
•Improved standards of respectful maternity care (RCM), improving the treatment of women and increasing their probability of seeking health services in the future
•Challenge the cultural tendency to accept that maternal deaths are a natural part of childbirth
•Creating advocates of respectful maternal care who are able to share their skills and knowledge with other local health workers
To date, ADI has trained 115 health workers in emergency obstetrics and neonatal care and an additional 13 in-country facilitators. All EMONC training participants complete pre- and post-training surveys which are used to inform and improve our program. Surveys compare knowledge demonstration of the topics and confidence in applying EMONC skills before and after the training. Qualitative data from trainees are also gathered. Previous testimonies have shown that they have been able to better support women during childbirth and prevent loss of life.
Case Study – August 2020 training
In August 2020 ADI delivered an EMONC three-day in-service training via webinar supported by local trainers to 30 health workers in PNG (15 in Western Province; 15 in West New Britain).
•53% stated that they had not attended any prior training dedicated to emergency obstetrics, or had not attended any training in over ten years.
•The number of births that participants managed at their health facilities varied between 5 and 80 per month. Collectively, by training and improving the emergency obstetric skills of these health workers, the training positively impacted on approximately 3,000 PNG remote births a year.
•Confidence levels in conducting neonatal resuscitation increased from 43% pre-training to 79% post
•Knowledge on respectful maternity care increased from 37% pre-training to 96% post-training
Thank you for encouraging us to sharpen our foundation’s focus on gender outcomes. We naturally gravitate to philanthropy for women and children’s programs but the gender focus wasn’t as sharp as it could be.
Australians Investing in Women acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Also known as Australian Women Donors Network (ABN: 28 141 197 471), Australians Investing in Women is a registered charity endorsed by the Australian Tax Office as a deductible gift recipient (DGR1) under a special listing, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Stay informed and connected by joining our mailing list.