Projects
WNF also operates a Maternal Outreach Project (MOP) that renders maternal health services to pregnant women in rural areas around Masanga Hospital, including information providing about birth planning.
Outreach Program
MOP
The Maternal Outreach Project (MOP) aims at improving maternal health services to pregnant women in remote, rural areas/villages around a hospital by weekly outreach interventions.
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A pilot project of Masanga Hospital in 2020 revealed that most maternal complications and deaths happended to high risk pregnant women who attempted delivery outside a hospital. A complex web of health system challenges (poor infrastructure, unawareness of risks at birth giving and social-economic factors) contributes to these worrisome outcomes.
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The current MOP interventions are focussed on conducting ultrasound scanning examinations in 5 Community Health Centers (CHC's), serving a catchment area of 35 small villages. Authorized scanning professionals scan all women who – on stimulus of local Maternal Agents (MA's) – arrive at the CHC, according to a standardized workflow. All women, that come for free-scan, receive basic education about safe child birth and neonatal health.
If high-risk pregnancy is identified (e.g. twins or placenta previa) the woman gets a thorough medical consultation conducted by the CHC staff and the scanning professionals. A referral letter is handed out with clear advice to give birth at the nearest Hospital (Masanga or Magburaka). In case of emergency, the woman is referred to the national ambulance service (NEMS) of Sierra Leone.
Sponsored students involved
WNF started this project to create an additional opportunity for her sponsored students to operate as certified scanners in the maternal outreach interventions. They gain a wealth of work experience in rendering obstetrics services in the field.
Research
In order to evaluate the outreach interventions, a quality research project has been added to the main MOP project. The research aims to assess broadly the influence of the program on pregnant women in rural villages.
The research team evaluates the interventions for better understanding of:
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The effect of the interventions on facility birth
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How and why women make decisions around child birth
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zooms in on the separate unique group of adolescent preganacies
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The cost effectiveness of the operations.
This will hopefully ensure that future interventions are meaningful and affordable. A reduction of the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is hardly measurable. The MOP program can only identify the pregnant women that carry a high risk and encourage them to go to the nearest hospital for facility birth. If properly managed, the program has everything in it to save lives and limit maternal risks.