Safe Motherhood Project Secures Funding

In February we received the wonderful news that NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development) has renewed the contract for a third year to support AMURT’s expanding Safe Motherhood programme.

In 2002, at the request of the provincial health director, AMURT started a safe motherhood program in the Deou area in northern Burkina Faso. The area has among the highest maternal mortality figures on the planet. The program focuses on the training of village midwives chosen by the women in each of the villages.

We now have active village midwives in 30 communities. Each of the women receives equipment, supplies, literacy training, and twice a year a review course with additional training. Each month, each village midwife is visited by a representative from the health department and AMURT for regular support and inspection.

In 2006 we started the SMI (Santé Maternelle Infantil) scheme, which brings health department personnel to each village to do check-ups for pregnant and nursing mothers and infants. At each SMI visit, an educational talk is offered for the whole village, on topics such as AIDS, family planning and nutrition.