Mother and Child Health
For the rural poor, pregnancy brings the hope of a new life, but also the very real fear of debilitating injuries and premature mortality.
Extending Our Reach
Based on the results of our knowledge of our 2004 Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) Assessment, which surveyed more than 400 nomadic women, Surmang Foundation has identified increasing access to midwife services and promoting health awareness as the most essential and most effective means to improve women and children's health.
The absence of midwives, the low social status of women and the prevalence of traditional birthing practices mean that nearly all births are unattended. Women routinely give birth alone amongst the animals, in the bushes, or in other isolated places. With little awareness, umbilical cords are cut with rusty knives and newborns are cleaned with powdered yak dung.
Unsurprisingly, many women and infants die during childbirth and many more suffer from infections and other serious injuries. With high rates of infant mortality, women are forced to have multiple pregnancies, reducing their resiliency and raising the likelihood of complications for both mother and child.
Poor health unfairly exposes women and children to higher rates of premature mortality and other disease and reduces their ability to becoming contributing members of their families and communities.
Promoting Gender Equality by Improving Lives
SF's Community Health Worker (CHW) project represents the core of our mother and child health programs. Empowering local women to address the challenges they face, the CHW program is a grassroots and proactive approach to increasing access to services and promoting wellbeing.
Began in 2006, with the support of the American Chamber of Commerce - China and the Soong Ching-ling Foundation, SF's 40 trained CHWs have emerged as an important institution and provider of services in the local community - one that did not exist before. Coming from the surrounding regions, they are a vital link between the clinic, nearby women and children, and even the most remote valleys and highlands.
Equipped with safe birthing kits, these dedicated women attend births, promote
health awareness in their communities, and refer patients to the clinic
when more care is needed.
By increasing access to services and promoting mother and child health,
the Foundation aims to enable them to lead happier, longer and more fulfilling
lives. Physical and mental wellbeing is an essential ingredient to becoming
equal members of the family and the community, earning a living, and escaping
poverty.
Setting the Standard
With the overwhelming success of SF's CHW program, we are looking forwards to working with our sister organization, Amara, to export such a program to other regions of rural China. Please see Amara's website for more information.
