Teach Traditional Ethiopian Midwives to Save Lives

We are pleased to report that our efforts to educate health care providers in Ethiopia have led to more than 7,000 people trained to use misoprostol tablets for prevention of excessive bleeding after childbirth, or postpartum hemorrhage. In a country where culture and geography contribute to 94% of women delivering at home, the transmission of knowledge on how to use misoprostol to manage postpartum hemorrhage may prove essential in saving the lives of laboring mothers for years to come.

One mother who received misoprostol from a provider we trained told us, “I am overwhelmed with satisfaction by the safe delivery I got taking misoprostol. I’ve had postpartum hemorrhage before, but not this time.”

With our local partners and team taking the lead, we continue to train the young women who are deployed to rural communities by the government to provide primary health care. These health workers previously faced the challenge of providing safe deliveries with minimal supplies and training but are now equipped with a simple to use tablet that clearly benefits the communities they serve. One such health worker recently reported proudly that she had conducted 61 deliveries safely using misoprostol.

Not only are we working diligently to educate health workers in rural villages, but with the obstetrics and gynecological society of Ethiopia we have trained nearly 4,000 students training to be midwives and nurses on misoprostol. By integrating training on misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage into their regular curriculum, we are contributing to a sustainable improvement in knowledge about a life-saving drug among the men and women who serve families across Ethiopia.

We appreciate the support of those who share our commitment to saving mothers' lives in Ethiopia.

A traditional midwife trained to provide misoprostol through our project recounted a story that is all too common in rural Ethiopia. She identified excessive blood loss in a woman who had just delivered her baby, but the woman’s family did not have money to send her to the hospital for additional care. By the time community members assembled enough money to transport her, it was too late. “If the solution [misoprostol] is at hand, we will work closely with health extension workers to save the lives of mothers,” the traditional midwife said.

Venture Strategies is successfully making misoprostol an essential component of safe childbirth for the millions of women who stand to benefit from access to the simple, low-cost tablet in Ethiopia. We are supporting the nurse-midwives association in training village-level health workers in the proper use of misoprostol to prevent excessive bleeding, or postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), in home births, since nearly 94% of mothers deliver at home in Ethiopia. In June 2009, our project trained 250 of a planned 600 traditional midwives as well as 100 health extension workers, government-sponsored primary care providers.

This project is unique as it establishes linkages between Ethiopia’s government health providers and village-level traditional midwives by training both on misoprostol and how to work together more effectively to reach women and provide safe deliveries.

Our efforts to make these life-saving tablets available in communities are met by enthusiasm from health professionals at the higher levels who recognize the role of misoprostol in safe childbirth. By empowering traditional midwives and health extension workers in villages with the skills to properly use misoprostol for PPH prevention, we are contributing to a reduction in the number of mothers who must be referred to the already overburdened health facilities and therefore, the number of mothers who risk dying from a delay in receiving care.

We are encouraged by our progress towards reducing maternal deaths in Ethiopia and appreciate the support we receive from generous donors.