In rural Ethiopia only 17% of women can attend antenatal care in the first trimester, a crucial stage in the baby’s development and to identify risks for the mother.
Many women in rural or poor communities have no access to mobile technology and struggle to access vital information around maternity and newborn healthcare.
New mothers struggle to keep track of all the recommended perinatal appointments they should attend.
Women and Children First, alongside our partner Doctors with Africa CUAMM, have provided over 676 pregnant women in the Goro Woreda with personalised health appointment calendars.
These simple wall calendars highlight recommended health and immunisation appointments before, during and after birth.
22-year-old Rahmat recently gave birth to a baby girl. She says “what I liked about the calendar is that it reminded me of all the visits during the pregnancy and after delivery.”
Thanks to the calendar, Rahmat was able to keep track of all her appointments during pregnancy and after birth; “the calendar reminds me of the dates of the visits, and I then go to the health facility to get the services.”
Mothers also use the calendars to keep track of longer-term health appointments for their children. Rahmat says, “I am currently using the calendar as a reminder of my child’s vaccination dates. I have already taken my child for her first vaccination at the health facility. I am looking forward to using the calendar for the remaining vaccination dates of my child.”
The project in Goro Woreda ends in April 2022. Due to the positive reaction and uptake of calendars from women like Rahmat, Women and Children First is planning more projects in other rural communities to provide thousands more women with these important calendars.
Personalised calendars open access to key maternal and newborn health services. When delivered alongside initiatives to improve the quality and accessibility of health services, they can play an important role in reducing maternal and newborn mortality and improving long-term health.
These achievements are only possible thanks to our wonderful supporters.