Increasing quality, demand and uptake of facility-based MNCH services

With an HIV prevalence rate of 16.1% among women attending antenatal care and an unacceptable high maternal mortality ratio (470 per 100,000 live births) there has been an increasing trend of home deliveries in Zimbabwe.

Interventions to address high rates of home deliveries, through promoting facility deliveries in Zimbabwe's rural populations have become critical. OPHID prioritised and refined two main intervention components to increase the uptake of facility based delivery of babies and other maternal and child health services among rural women, a) the development of "Action Birth Cards and b) the refurbishment of Family Friendly Martenity Waiting Homes.

Stakeholder engagement involved local leaders, clinic staff, and the community in maternal, newborn and child health at each step of the project.

The project ended in June 2015