Toward a safer motherhood in Myanmar

Myanmar has some of the worst health indicators in South-East Asia. In Kayin State, the Maternal Mortality Ratio is 727 per 100 000, the Under Five Mortality is 138 per 1 000 and the Infant Mortality is 73 per 1 000 in Eastern Burma. There is an insufficient access to Reproductive Health services in addition to inadequate reproductive health awareness of the population. The number of skilled Reproductive health workers including Midwives is very low. The deliveries are rarely attended by MW. There is an urgent need to develop the skills of Reproductive health professionnals.

In order to compensate for the lack of midwives and to replace Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) whose practices were often dangerous for women, the government implemented the AMWs. The current approach enables the strenghtening of the quality of services to women and the recognition and inclusion of community health workers within the Myanmar system. Since the beginning of the project the level of knowledge and prepardness of AMWs at a community level has improved drastically, as they are benefiting from practical training sessions and supportive supervision in addition to the continuous technical support through the use of the mHealth application. The use of the application facilitates the communication between midwives and AMWs and contribute to build a strong bridge between the community and the health facilities. The use of electronic medical records allows midwives to have a better follow up of women in their catchment areas and to increase the quality of care.