Dayako Sagar (Ocean of Mercy) Maternal Health Program

Location

As a young midwife, Amanda Philips was inspired to use her gifts for the impoverished community in the Darjeeling Hills district. However, at the local hospital she was horrified to watch a woman in labor beaten by the nurses and doctor. The atrocities against women piled up as she watched the disparity of care between impoverished and affluent pregnant women. The impoverished women were beaten, placed in soiled beds, forced to use bathrooms with sewage on the floors, and were made to leave without an overnight stay or post-natal education.
Amanda decided to bring her gifts to a local village. After interacting with women, she found that they were afraid that they would die in childbirth due to the high incidence in the village. The common causes of death for mother and child were malnutrition, lack of health education, lack of access to ante-natal care, hemorrhaging, tetanus and insufficient knowledge about proper breastfeeding techniques. Amanda knew that something needed to change and ECTA was formed.
ECTA wants mothers to have better options. ECTA's goal is to provide access to ante-natal care, post-partum care, a trained and equipped birth attendant and the materials necessary for a safe and hygienic birth to every mother in the region of service. With the help of the Village Health Workers (VHW) all pregnant women will be visited in their homes monthly to receive information about nutrition, the development of their fetus, hygiene, and warning signs to look out for during pregnancy. These monthly services will also provide proper screening and care for the mother. In their 8th month each mother will receive a home birth kit. This is to ensure that the mother will at least have the needed materials for a hygienic birth if she chooses to stay at home for her delivery, does not have time to reach a healthcare facility, or is not able/does not wish to call the VHW. Each birth kit will include clothes for the baby at the time of birth, receiving blanket, sterile cord clamps, a sterile razor for cutting the cord, soap to wash hands, medication to stop hemorrhages, and an instruction sheet to guide the woman through the birth. Instructions are written in Nepali with illustrations for the illiterate woman.
The VHW sells the kits for the cost of the materials enclosed plus a moderate mark up to provide income for the VHW. The receiving blanket and clothes for the newborn will be subsidized by ECTA. VHW’s are trained by ECTA to oversee births in a hygienic and compassionate manner, to identify signs and symptoms which warn of potentially life threatening conditions, and given the confidence to transport these women in their time of need. They are equipped with proper instruments and training necessary to prevent a maximum number of mother-child mortalities. Mothers will also receive post-partum visits so that potential complications, such as infections, can be identified before they become serious.
This initiative will give women who decide to deliver at home a healthier birth and provide access to specialized care for those who desire help at the time of delivery.
http://ecta-international.org/endindx.php?wnext=four