Projecten van Simavi: waar we aan werken — Simavi | Powerful women, healthy societies

About Group Care for the first 1000 days (GC_1000)

810 women die every day of birth and pregnancy complications. Important reasons are poor quality of health services and inadequate use. The Group Care programme is implemented in the Binduri district, in the Upper east region of Ghana, where pregnant women hardly access health services. This project is an implementation research project, that studies improving maternal health through innovative strategies and empowering women.

Group Care is a new model of care and has proven to be a positive solution. In combination with the innovative Check2Gether diagnostic kit, that can be used outside the health facilities, pregnant mothers can receive essential care near to their homes.

Fact:

Worldwide, 45% of all pregnancies are unintended

Every day 810 women die from the effects of pregnancy and childbirth

7000 newborns die every day, associated with lack of quality or skilled care at birth or after

Impact of the programme

The aim is by combining Group Care and the use of the Check2Gether kit to enable antenatal and postnatal health systems for the first 1000 days. Strategies and tools are built from lessons learned in demonstration sites in seven countries. Simavi will integrate Check2gether (C2G) with group antenatal care, by training of midwives in Ghana to implement the C2G mobile diagnostic kit. This kit aims to provide women in rural remote areas access to quality Antenatal Care (ANC) services. It contains a testing kit to ensure early diagnosis of high-risk pregnancies.

Women will have access to health services and be able to detect risks sooner. Also, this programme provides women with information and knowledge needed for safe pregnancies and delivery of their babies.

Contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

Goal 3: Good health and well-being - Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 5: Gender equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Check2Gether kit is an innovation which aims to provide women in rural remote areas access to quality Antenatal Care (ANC) services. It contains a testing kit to ensure early diagnosis of high risk pregnancies.

Approach of the programme

The programme reaches pregnant mothers and midwives, trained in facilitating Group Care and the use of Check2Gether. Women can measure their own blood pressure, while the midwives will check the urine samples and use an innovative device to know whether the hemoglobin level of the mothers is adequate. The measurements will be inserted in a tablet, that will provide instant advice. Mothers can respond and act accordingly to minimise risks.

Total budget: €4,000,000, Simavi budget: €244,000, duration: 3 years, location: Ghana