Saving Mothers Giving Life– for Safe Deliveries
Only 57% of Uganda’s women deliver at health facilities with a much smaller percentage in rural areas. Delivery outside of health facilities contributes majorly to the country’s high maternal mortality rate of 510 maternal deaths/100,000 live births.
Research
A UHMG qualitative research study found that the vast majority of women understand the benefits of a safe delivery but had a low risk perception of the customary practice of delivering at home. Citing unpreparedness, lack of funds, and poor service delivery as main obstacles to deliver at health facilities, the research furthermore revealed husbands to have a huge potential role as household level enablers in order to remove these barriers.
Response
In support of the Government’s efforts to scale up maternal and child health services, UHMG developed and launched the Saving Mothers Giving Life campaign, incorporating messages that specifically speak to eliminate those household level barriers, including a strong emphasis on transforming the husband from a barrier to an enabler. Through a heavily concentrated outdoor and radio media presence, the campaign seeks to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by 50% across the four project districts in Western Uganda in the space of one year.
Service Provision
UHMG service delivery partners have concurrently been building capacity at health facility level to equip health workers dealing with the increased demand created by the campaign, ensuring that mothers have improved access to quality services. In support, UHMG developed point of sale materials including flip charts and danger sign cards and posters.
Reach
The first quarter following the launch of Saving Mothers Giving Life saw an increase of Ugandan adults exposed to messages on maternal and child health from 17% to 24%. However, as this is the national average, the actual figure for the four campaign districts is estimated to be around three times higher, as a comprehensive behaviour change survey revealed that 74% of respondents in the project area had been exposed to the campaign. 37% of these were exposed on a daily basis and almost half at least once a week.
Impact
According to the behaviour change survey, 91% of those exposed to the campaign remembered at least one message, and more than half understood that delivering at a health facility could save the life of the mother or child. 70% of respondents exposed to the campaign had taken at least one action as a result, and nearly half planned to deliver at a health facility. Testimonials from mothers and health care workers support this evidence, and illustrate a marked increase in health facility deliveries as well as level of preparedness.
Highlights
Due to the intensity of the campaign, coupled with the micro targeted placement of outdoor materials, Saving Mothers Giving Life has resulted in unusually high exposure figures as well as indicating an overwhelmingly positive trend in terms of actions taken and changes in behaviour. The pre-campaign qualitative research offered detailed insight in to the birthing practices across the four districts and was instrumental in informing content and delivery of communications messages. The campaign execution—decided according to these findings—haveplayed a key role towards achieving Saving Mothers Giving Life objectives.