31 March 2011
This Mother's Day is a chance to celebrate the dedication of midwives and health workers around the world who are making pregnancy and childbirth safer for mothers and babies.
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
To mark Mother's Day 2011 we're highlighting how the UK's aid efforts will help at least two million women to deliver their babies safely with skilled midwives, nurses and doctors.
Over the next four years this support will help to save the lives of at least 50,000 women during pregnancy and childbirth and 250,000 newborns - helping more babies in the world's poorest countries grow up with the love and support of their mothers.
Tackling maternal deaths in Nigeria
Every year, more than one third of a million girls and women die needlessly in pregnancy or childbirth and around 50 million give birth without skilled care. The vast majority of these women live in developing countries.
In Nigeria, where Mother's Day is also celebrated on Sunday April 3 this year, the likelihood of a woman dying of pregnancy and childbirth-related causes is
one in 23, compared with one in 4,700 in the UK. And while 2% of the world's population lives in Nigeria, it is home to more than 10% of maternal deaths.
To reduce this number by one third, UK aid is increasing the number of health workers in Nigeria, providing contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancies and improving maternal health care for millions of mothers.
Using body language to save lives
In northern Nigeria, an innovative UK aid funded community programme is helping women to recognise and remember the danger signs of a difficult pregnancy or birth.
The project helps midwives like Binta (left) teach community health volunteers how to spot pregnancy warning signs through a simple technique known as 'body tools'.
The volunteers, known locally as 'mothers helpers', are taught to use their bodies to learn and communicate key information. For example, they say the word 'fever' aloud and fold their arms over their chests to remember that a fever is a sign a pregnant woman is in danger. And they put their hands on their forehead to learn that a headache is another signal a woman needs help.
Over 80% of women in northern Nigeria are illiterate and this technique makes it easier for them to recall and pass on information – no leaflets are needed and anyone can be taught the signs and symptoms by using their body as a reminder.
Safe labours, healthy newborns
Community health volunteer Fatsuma (below) is just one of thousands of people who have received the crucial training. And her new knowledge is already saving lives.
When her pregnant neighbour, 25-year-old Hauwa'u, had a fever and a severe headache, Fatsuma recognised two of the key danger signs and quickly organised transport to take Hauwa'u to hospital.
"When we got to the hospital at around 5am, we immediately went straight to the
nurse in charge," recalls Fatsuma.
"We called the nurse on the way and told her we had a case and explained the condition. Hauwa'u was cared for in the hospital and after two days her blood pressure has gone down and she went into spontaneous, natural labour."
Having previously lost two children during childbirth, Hauwa'u was worried that her new baby might not survive. But thanks to Fatsuma's new knowledge and quick thinking, Hauwa'u gave birth to healthy baby boy called Muktar.
"When this all happened my husband wasn't home," says Hauwa'u. "Had it not been for the community members and volunteers I don't know what would have happened to me. I could be dead by now. Because of the help they gave me I survived."
Safety in numbers
Helping midwives like Binta train volunteers in rural communities creates a virtuous circle of life-saving knowledge, as Binta explains: "It's not only the volunteers who are transmitting this information, it's the whole community. One person will learn and then ten or twenty people will learn from them."
And the same body tool technique is being used to teach volunteers like Fatsuma about the importance of planning for a safe pregnancy. Fatsuma now encourages families to contribute to a community savings scheme for medical care, arrange emergency transport and find out about potential blood donors.
By 2013 this UK aid funded programme will increase the number of deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants each year from 8,172 to 150,000. And around two million women in Nigeria will receive better maternal health care thanks to improved health facilities.
Hauwa'u knows the importance of skilled birth attendants and hopes that her new son Muktar will grow up to be a doctor and that her daughter will help to save lives too: "I want her to become a nurse," she says. "I pray she will help others in the same way I have been helped."
Find out more about the women we're supporting in Nigeria:
Facts and stats
- UK aid from the Department for International Development will save the lives of at least 50,000 women during pregnancy and childbirth and 250,000 newborn babies by 2015
- UK aid will also support at least two million safe deliveries, ensuring long lasting improvements in quality maternity services
- The 'body tools' project is just one element of a maternal health and immunisation programme known as PRRINN-MNCH. This programme is joint funded by DFID and Norwegian Government. The programme works in four northern Nigerian states - Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe and Zamfara. So far 120 lead community volunteers and 9,600 community volunteers have received training
- PRRINN-MNCH is managed by Health Partners International, GRID Consulting Nigeria and Save the Children UK