CHS News
Cotopaxi, Ecuador EONC Project:
Child Survival in the Ecuadorian Highlands
By Andrew J Gall
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Teresa Tipanquiza, a traditional birth attendant, and Mario Chávez, CHS Field Project Manager, Cotopaxi, Ecuador |
In the remote and mountainous province of Cotopaxi, maternal and neonatal mortality rates are among the highest in Ecuador: 180 maternal fatalities per 100,000 births and 12 neonatal fatalities per 1,000 births. Many of these deaths could be prevented if women had access to quality essential and obstetric neonatal care (EONC). Health facilities often are unable to respond effectively to emergency situations and frequently provide poor quality care. Cultural barriers also prevent women from reaching critical care in time; most women choose to deliver at home with traditional birth attendants (TBAs).
CHS recently launched a four-year project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in Cotopaxi. The project builds on work done by the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (formerly the Quality Assurance Project, 1990-2008) and supports the Ministry of Health’s strategy to address underlying causes of maternal and neonatal mortality.
The project is developing a continuum of maternal and neonatal services and establishing referral systems between private and public health facilities at all levels of care. To expand access to disadvantaged and isolated populations, the project seeks to bridge the gap between traditional, culture-based care and modern clinical practices.
The CHS team offers key services to:
- Develop a network of community-based providers and health facilities that provide quality EONC services
- Increase community access to, demand for, and utilization of EONC network services
- Monitor the impact of evidence-based maternal-newborn intervention services
- Work with TBAs to enable them to identify danger signs and risk factors in mothers and newborns and refer them to a skilled-care facility
- Coordinate activities among TBAs, mobile community health teams, facilities that provide skilled services, community leaders, and non-government organizations working at the community level
- Strengthen the cultural acceptability of services at health care facilities
- Offer health facilities high-impact, evidence-based interventions and provide technical assistance to institutionalize quality improvement methods that will increase the quality and availability of EONC care.
For more on the Cotopaxi, Ecuador EONC Project, please contact Andrew Gall at agall@urc-chs.com.
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