HOPE Strengthens Partnerships Among Midwives and Traditional Birth Attendants in Indonesia

Indonesia’s rates of maternal and newborn deaths are alarmingly high – among the highest in Asia. More than 17,000 women die every year due to pregnancy-related causes, and there are more than 90,000 deaths of newborns in Indonesia. Project HOPE has been implementing the Saving Lives at Birth project in Serang, a part of Banten Province, Indonesia, since 2012 with excellent results. For example, exclusive breastfeeding from 0-6 months among mothers in this province increased from 28 percent to 58 percent since the start of the project. Due to this success and other successes, Saving Lives at Birth has been renewed for three more years and is expanding to reach more women and children in need. Here is just one example of how this program is saving so many lives.

My name is Yunianti (left), and I’m a village midwife in Tunjung Teja, Indonesia. On May 8, 2015 a Community Health Volunteer came to tell me that a patient of mine was starting labor. I went directly to her house and examined her. I determined that her membrane had broken early and took her directly to the health center.  I consulted with the doctor, and after examination my diagnosis was confirmed, and we treated her and her delivery was monitored closely until she successfully gave birth to a healthy baby. I’m thankful to Project HOPE that I gained the skills and confidence to handle this risky condition successfully so that the mother and baby were safe. Project HOPE has helped strengthen the partnership between the Community Health Volunteers and Traditional Birth Attendants (so they don’t handle deliveries themselves but refer women to deliver with midwives), to work as a team to support pregnant women to have a healthy delivery.

The Saving Lives at Birth project is funded by Johnson & Johnson.