MomsFirst

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; Nepal

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

MomsFirst prevents maternal death in Nepal by providing misoprostol through trained FCHVs going door to door.

MomsFirst trains FCHVs to distribute misoprostol to pregnant women in remote areas, starting with the pilot in the province. FCHVs will identify pregnant women in the 3rd trimester, provide prenatal advice and misoprostol for use after childbirth. MomsFirst will work through the already existing network of trusted community health volunteers, ensuring both outreach and acceptance, which is what sets them apart.

MomsFirst is founded by Dr. Samriddhi Parajuli, leading the organisation’s vision and strategy with a core team, including Dr. Asim Pandey as a cofounder. Both are medical professionals with firsthand experience working in Nepal’s rural healthcare system, with a deep understanding of the urgent need for effective interventions for preventing maternal deaths.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Train at least 20 FCHVs and reach 300 women with Misoprostol.

• Distribute 300 Misoprostol via FCHVs going through door to door in the community.

• Fundraise an additional 20000 USD from new donors or collaborations.

FOUNDING TEAM

Dr. Samriddhi Parajuli - Founder

Dr. Asim Pandey - Cofounder

Waves of Resilience

PMTCT CHALLENGE; Uganda

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Retention in care and adherence to anti-retroviral treatment for people living with HIV

Learn more about the PMTCT Challenge and how increasing completion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV can decrease HIV rates and improve lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Waves of Resilience hopes to build strong community-led PMTCT service delivery systems.

Waves of Resilience will pilot the community group antenatal care model (CG-ANC) to mitigate the challenges created by the geographical barrier in the Buvuma Islands.

Using this model, pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBFW) will be supported to form motherhood clubs within their communities to enhance ANC attendance, psychosocial support, and increase access to integrated HIV, maternal and child health services.

To build and strengthen community support systems, distribution channels and linkages, they will use an integrated approach, leveraging and blending the influence of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) with the efforts of Community Peer Supporters (CPS) and Health facility linkage facilitators (FLF). Community-led models are sustainable and cost-effective.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 450 beneficiaries during the pilot.

• Distribute 1 proven intervention during the pilot.

• Raise $8000 in additional funding.

FOUNDING TEAM

Nabanoba Alice Vivian - Team Leader

Namatovu Josephine - Resource Mobilization Officer

Nansubuga Hope - Technical Field Officer

Afya Njema

PMTCT CHALLENGE; Uganda

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Retention in care and adherence to anti-retroviral treatment for people living with HIV

Learn more about the PMTCT Challenge and how increasing completion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV can decrease HIV rates and improve lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Afya Njema aims to increase access to quality and timely PMTCT services in rural and resource-limited communities.

Afya Njema uses the expert clients model as a low-cost task-shifting approach to bridging the care gaps created by low health facility staffing levels and high patient load in Kabarole district, Uganda.

The pilot will use a combination of community-based and health facility-based expert clients who will serve as a bridge between the community and clinic. The aim will be to test the effectiveness of expert clients in using client-centred differentiated service delivery models to increase HIV testing, linkage and enrollment in care, ART adherence, follow-up and retention in care.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 1200 beneficiaries during the pilot.

• Distribute 2 interventions during the pilot.

• Fundraise an additional $20,000 from other donors.

FOUNDING TEAM

Gulemye Isaac - Public Health Specialist

Tebusweke Brian - Maternal Health Specialist

Mulungi Faith - Clinical Psychologist

For Mom And Baby (FOMAB) Foundation

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; cameroon

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

For Mom And Baby (FOMAB) Foundation is on a mission to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths due to preventable causes in Cameroon with a particular focus on rural, fragile and internally displaced communities.

FOMAB Foundation will use a network of community health workers to identify pregnant women, initiate basic antenatal care, and connect them to the closest health facilities where they will get misoprotol-containing birth kits at a subsidised price for skilled delivery. Bringing basic antenatal care closer to women in the communities to ease follow-up and ensure prompt referral is what sets us apart. They plan to pilot this model in the South West Region of Cameroon which is a conflict-affected area with hundreds of internally displaced expectant women who lack access to pregnancy care.

The organization was founded in 2021 by Ashu Martha Egbe who is currently the President of the Foundation. Ngwashi Christabel and Nkwain Carlson joined the organisation in 2022 and together will oversee the operations of this project.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Directly reach 400 pregnant women within three months of launch

• Use 15 trained community health workers, distribute 360 misoprostol-containing delivery kits in three months

• Fundraise an additional $30,000 from new donors within three months

FOUNDING TEAM

Ashu Martha Egbe - Founder

Rural Women and Children Development Initiative

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Rural Women and Children Development Initiative (RUWOCHDI) aims to reduc postpartum hemorrhage through training and community distribution of misoprostol in rural communities of Sokoto then spreading throughout Nigeria.

RUWOCHDI model uses a revolving fund approach to train and distribute misoprostol. The venture will train traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) on effective use of misoprostol to prevent postpartum hemorrhage and make it available as well as cost effective. To increase access RUWOCHI will procure misoprostol and distribute to clients through this network. The proceeds generated will be revolved to procure more misoprostol to sustain the program.

RUWOCHDI was founded by Saida Mansur Sani with Zainab Bashir as a co-founder.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Train 50 TBAs and CHEWs on the effective use of misoprostol to treat postpartum hemorrhage

• Distribute 800 Misoprostol pills in three months

• Fundraise an additional $10,000 from new donors within three months

FOUNDING TEAM

Saida Mansur Sani - Founder

Zainab Bashir - Co-founder

Better Women Health

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; SOUTH SUDAN

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Better Women Health (BWH) is distributing Misoprostol to reduce the high prevalence of PPH mortality, among millions of women giving birth at home, driven by remote settings of war torn South Sudan.

BWH’s model is based on “a low-cost-effective proven lifesaving solution. Together with the trained Community Health workers (CHWs), TBAs and Health workers; BWH registers pregnant women from 32 weeks of gestation to enable access to misoprostol at health facility delivery or home birth with an upskilled birth attendant. With support from BWH and Health workers, the CHWs & TBAs visit mothers at home and discuss birth preparedness plan, informing mothers of the benefits of taking misoprostol immediately after delivery to prevent excessive bleeding. BWH model is a dire demand to reduce preventable deaths resulting from PPH and saving more lives and easy to administer even by the mothers themselves.

BWH was started ten months ago (April 2021) by Judith Draleru Maturu of BHECO and Kiden Rose Buli a friend who questioned the quick solution to stop women dying from PPH. Seeing it through the tears in her eyes, made it especially personal and women for women struggle. Rose now serves as the BWH project coordinator.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Directly reach 200 women within three months

• Distribute 800 Misoprostol pills in three months

• Fundraise an additional $75,000 from new donors within three months

FOUNDING TEAM

Judith Draleru Maturu - Project Director

Rose Kiden Buli - Project Coordinator

Maatri

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; Nepal

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Maatri aims to prevent the postpartum hemorrhage and curb the maternal deaths by the community-based door to door distribution of misoprostol (a WHO approved low cost uterotonic drug) via Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs).

Nepal has a very high maternal mortality rate of 186 deaths per 100,000 live births about 25% of which has been attributed to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Due to long distances to health facilities, most women die from postpartum hemorrhage in the communities as they try to deliver under the care of unskilled traditional birth attendants. The number of institutional deliveries is woefully low in most parts of Nepal and an estimated two-thirds of women still give birth at home with no skilled birth attendant present.

Maatri’s model seeks to train the FCHVs on PPH and the role of misoprostol in its management. They will then go door-to-door in the communities to provide antenatal counseling and instructions to pregnant women and household decision makers on how to dispense misoprostol. The pilot project will operate in province 6, one of the most rural regions of Nepal.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Directly reach 300 women during the pilot phase

• Use 15 trained Female Community Health Volunteer’s (FCHVs) to distribute 300 doses of misoprostol tablets during the pilot phase

• Secure an additional $25,000 USD funding within the first three months

FOUNDING TEAM

Dr. Preeti Shakya - CEO & Founder

Bihani Gurung - Field Trainer

Abhishek Shakya - Accounts, Procurement and Logistics Manager

Prithak Shrestha - Communications and Advocacy Officer

Ending Maternal Mortality

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Ending Maternal Mortality (EMM) reduces maternal mortality through training birth attendants and distributing life-saving medical treatments.

The EMM model begins with upskilling informal health workers (e.g. traditional birth attendants) and connecting them with upskilled formal healthcare workers (e.g. community health workers) to promote the use of misoprostol in rural Nigeria. Health workers pre-register women via a simple prescription process and user registration form. This registration gives women access to misoprostol should they give birth at a healthcare facility or with an upskilled birth attendant.

EMM was founded by a team of ambitious 17-year-old young women in 2020. Ruhani Walia and Isabella Grandic serve as EMM's project directors. Navya Riju, Sophie Lukashenkova Pellar and Christina Wang are EMM's training upskilling directors.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Directly register 1,400 women during the pilot phase

• Using 100 trained TBAs, distribute 1400 doses of misoprostol during the pilot phase (1 dose = 3-4 pills)

• Secure $10,000 USD in further funding within first three months

• Reach 7,000 women by the end of year 1

• Reach 18,000 women by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Isabella Grandic - Project Director

Ruhani Walia - Project Director

Navya Riju - Medical Training Director

Sophie Lukashenkova Pellar - Medical Training Director

Christina Wang - Pictorial Training Director

Koi Koi Stories Uganda Limited

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Through empowering traditional birth attendants, Koi Koi Stories increases community access to the lifesaving misoprostol drug to reduce post partum haemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal mortality among the rural underserved women of Moroto District, Uganda.

Moroto District has a very high maternal mortality rate at 420 deaths per 100,000 live births. Due to long distances to health facilities, most women die from postpartum hemorrhage in the communities as they try to deliver under the care of unskilled traditional birth attendants. Our model seeks to train traditional birth attendants on the appropriate use of misoprostol (an approved low cost uterotonic drug), and create linkages for them with the health facilities to allow them access the drug supplies and appropriately and timely administer these drugs at community level to save the lives of mothers and their newborns.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 1,680 women during the pilot phase

• Raise $10,000 of funding during the pilot phase

• Train 5,000 Traditional Birth Attendants by the end of year 2

• Reach 50,000 women by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Bryan Innocent Tumusiime - Team Lead

Mary Ajwang - Project Coordinator

Precious Mutoru Kerunga - M&E Officer

Dinnah Odonya - Field Trainer

Abigail Antwi - Founding Member

Oninku Health Foundation

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; GHANA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The Oninku Health Foundation (OHF) is a new venture that seeks to address the occurrence of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in rural communities of Ghana through training of traditional birth attendants (TBAs). The venture will utilize multiple approaches in distributing and creating awareness about Misoprostol to curb PPH. Due to Ghana’s regulations in the handling of Misoprostol, the venture will leverage the existence of district health facilities to serve as a distributing unit for women. The drug supply will be integrated with antenatal care visits (ANC).

OHF will subsequently raise awareness about the drug through community education activities on maternal health. With technical support from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), OHF will train TBAs on how to administer Misoprostol, and also empower them to have a full set of tools with the proprietary community health box.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Train 120 Traditional Birth Attendants during the pilot phase

• Reach 1,200 women during the pilot phase

• Train 5,000 Traditional Birth Attendants by the end of year 2

• Reach 50,000 women by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Samuel Oninku - Founding Member

Godwin King - Founding Member

Emmanuel Tetteh - Founding Member

Abigail Antwi - Founding Member

Safe Passage Initiative

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol tablets. 

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The mission of Safe Passage is to improve the quality of life and the life expectancy of women of child bearing age and pregnant women in particular by significantly lowering the incidence of Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). The organization will work to curtail the rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria through the increased distribution of Misoprostol. 

The Safe Passage team will train 100 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in the initial pilot phase, on the practical use of Misoprostol during child delivery. The Pilot will run in 3 communities, one in each of the 3 geopolitical zones of Nigeria's Imo state: Umuguma, Orlu, and Okigwe. 

The model is unique as TBAs will be reaching and training other TBAs in the use of Misoprostol, encouraging acceptability, accessibility and increased impact. This strategy will have a multiplier effect as scaling progresses. The Safe Passage management team includes well respected and experienced TBAs which will improve their ability to train larger numbers and in turn, safe more lives. 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Train 100 Traditional Birth Attendants during the pilot
• Distribute 600 Misoprostol tablets during the pilot 
• Train 2,500 Traditional Birth Attendants by the end of year 1 
• Distribute 7,500 Misoprostol tablets by the end of year 1

FOUNDING TEAM

Dr. Patrick Nwachi - Team Lead 

Dr Precious Eteike - Assistant Team Lead 

Maryann Anugwara - Head Traditional Birth Attendant

African 1000 Days Action

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; SOUTH SUDAN

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol, a $3 drug that could prevent 100,000 maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhaging.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives. 

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

African 1000 Days Action brings affordable, quality maternal healthcare to poor women with limited access to primary healthcare services. The organization trains facility-based healthcare providers and traditional birth attendants to administer Misoprostol as a postpartum hemorrhage prevention method. The organization will ensure an effective supply chain in the Upper Nile State region of South Sudan to allow the drug to be available at an affordable price and will establish a modern pharmacy to distribute Misoprostol. To begin, African 1000 Days Action will obtain a written official approval from the South Sudanese Ministry of Health for the implementation of the project. The team notes that this is a crucial step in a post-conflict country where many regions are still militarized and the local project staff may need to frequently demonstrate that the project is approved by authorities. Then African 1000 Days Action will conduct meetings with important stakeholders including the Chinese Petroleum Extraction Company airline which is the only transportation available to reach their pilot location from Juba, South Sudan's capital city. 

The organization will focus on identifying and training traditional birth attendants. In South Sudan, around 80% of mothers deliver at home assisted by traditional birth attendants. While public healthcare institutions suffer from a lack of equipment and human resources, private pharmacists, drug shop owners, and private clinical officers have built expansive networks within the community and are playing a vital role in providing health services to remote communities. Private healthcare providers and traditional birth attendants will be chosen from this group to  train on the correct use of misoprostol. 

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Train 500 healthcare providers and 1,000 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) to administer misoprostol during the pilot 
• Grow to 5,000 healthcare providers and over 10,000 TBA trainees by the end of 2019 
• Ensure misoprostol supply chain to mothers during childbirth in rural areas

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Jean Luc Ugirashebuja - Executive Director