Ammalife
The effectiveness of strategies incorporating training and support of traditional birth attendants on perinatal and maternal mortality.
Ammalife research has again been published in the prestigious BMJ. Research is an important part of the work Ammalife does. It is crucial that policy and projects are informed by research to ensure that they are effective.
Perinatal and maternal mortality rates are high in developing countries, with more than 358 000 mothers and six million babies dying annually. At present, about 60 million births in developing countries occur outside healthcare facilities. An estimated 52 million births occur without the assistance of a skilled birth attendant.
Ammalife evaluated all the studies previously done comparing strategies incorporating training and support of traditional birth attendants, which included 13 controlled studies which included 210,774 women. Using statistical techniques to combine their findings a meta-analysis was performed. This showed that perinatal and neonatal deaths are significantly reduced by training and supporting traditional birth attendants.
Support strategies include:
- Training
- Linkage with healthcare professionals
- Continued skill development
- Access to resources such as clean birth kits and resuscitation equipment
- Effective referral pathways.
Enhanced access to care during pregnancy and labour, in areas with poor coverage of skilled birth attendants, can form part of the solution to reducing child mortality and improve maternal health.
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