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. Here, a health care worker shares her experience.

My name is Teti. I am 41 and from Tunjung Teja. On March 3, 2015, a woman in labor was brought to the health center by her husband. She said she’d been having contractions since the night before, and decided to deliver here. After examining her I assured her it was a normal delivery, and she gave birth to a healthy baby.

However, 30 minutes after delivery, the placenta hadn’t come out. Thankfully, I knew how to manually remove the placenta safely due to my training from Project HOPE, and there was no need for referral to a hospital to handle the emergency.

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