Maternal health care achievement in Tanzania: Medical Teams International reports zero maternal deaths in four years – United Republic of Tanzania

Multifaceted approach offers lessons for other countries

(PORTLAND, OR) May 6, 2024 – International Medical Teams is pleased to announce that it has achieved its fourth consecutive year without maternal deaths among the population of the refugee camps it serves in Tanzania. This success is the result of excellent coordination, collaboration, continuous training and focused determination within the medical teams, together with the Ministry of Health, UN agencies, community partners and dedicated community health workers.

Tanzania has been home to forcibly displaced refugees in the Great Lakes region since the early 1960s. Years of cyclical conflict and instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi have caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee to Tanzania. The majority of refugees in Tanzania live in the country’s two refugee camps: Nyarugusu and Nduta, located in the Kigoma region, near the border with Burundi. As of the end of 2023, Nyarugusu was hosting 136,346 refugees and Nduta was hosting 63,959 refugees.

Since 2020, Medical Teams has been working with UN agencies, national governments and other health partners to provide access to reproductive and child health and health services, including maternal health services, medical referrals and community health services. The following elements of the program have contributed to its success:

Prenatal and postnatal clinics

Medical teams care for pregnant women in the camps during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. We provide prenatal care (ANC) that prevents, treats and manages health risks to mothers through regular pregnancy monitoring, disease screening and vaccinations. Through awareness programs, full-term pregnant women have been encouraged to deliver at our health centers, where trained health workers are available to support safe and hygienic deliveries. As part of the ongoing effort to prevent malaria among pregnant women and newborns, medical teams provide health promotion messages, treated bed nets, and malaria prophylaxis to pregnant women at their prenatal care visits.

Family planning

The World Health Organization recommends that women space pregnancies at least 24 months before the next pregnancy to reduce infant and child mortality and benefit maternal health. Medical Teams offers reproductive health education sessions at the camp that include information about family planning methods available at health centers. Women of reproductive age hear about at least three methods of family planning.

Births carried out by qualified health workers

Risks associated with complications can occur at any time during pregnancy and can lead to maternal deaths. Qualified nurses, midwives and doctors work to address these risks. Health workers detect potentially risky pregnancies during prenatal clinic visits and arrange immediate medical referrals for all identified risky pregnancies to regional or district referral hospitals, zonal hospital or other local health partners.

Community health workers

Community health workers (CHWs) conduct home visits, reminding and encouraging mothers to attend prenatal and postnatal care appointments and plan for delivery at health centers. They serve as a comprehensive support network and source of guidance for mothers. CHWs help call an ambulance if the mother experiences premature labor pains or an emergency and cannot reach the center in time. Pregnant mothers receive “mommy kits” with essential child care supplies when they give birth in centers, helping to increase the number of births in centers assisted by qualified health workers. CHWs receive monthly incentives for the work they do in the camps and talk about family planning during home visits.

Capacity Building: Mentoring and Training of Health Workers

Since 2020, numerous technical trainings and field exchanges have been provided at government facilities to healthcare workers, community health workers, and other incentive workers. Training is also provided on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, focusing on the physical and emotional well-being of adolescents and helping them avoid unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (including HIV/AIDS), and all forms of violence and coercion. sexual. Community health workers and adolescents also receive training to prevent gender-based sexual violence in the camps and use reporting mechanisms. To ensure consistent and high-quality delivery of maternal and neonatal health services in the camps, health workers are provided with training materials, approved by the Ministry of Health, on basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care.

Meetings on reproductive and child health

Monthly meetings convened by the District Medical Officer are held to review progress and plans. Public health officials from the camp commander’s office and reproductive and child health stakeholders discuss work and motherhood performance, among other topics. Key stakeholders such as UN agencies, health partners, Home Office representatives, health service providers and community members contribute to decisions.

Regional Health Management Teams/Councils

On a quarterly basis, the program offers supportive supervision and on-site mentoring by experienced specialists from Maweni regional or district hospitals. This includes the participation of experienced obstetricians who have provided continuing medical education.

About International Medical Equipment

Founded in 1979, Medical Teams International provides lifesaving medical care to people in crisis, such as survivors of natural disasters and refugees. We care about the whole person: physical, emotional, social and spiritual. Daring to love like Jesus, we serve all people, regardless of religion, nationality, sex or race. Get more information atmedicalequipment.organd on social media using @medicalteams.

Media contact

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected]
Karen Piatt
Communications Manager
(425) 284-1942