Keeping mom & child healthy in times of crisis and beyond.
Mothers and children are often the first to face the consequences of disasters and crises, including poverty. That gives a special urgency to supporting the services that keep mother and child healthy in any circumstance.
Americares projects around the world help women and children access quality health care, during times of disaster and every day. Through our Medicine Security program, Americares provides local partners with prenatal vitamins – last year, distributing enough prenatal vitamins for more than 2 million prescriptions. During emergencies, restoring access to health services ensures pregnant women have the care they need. Collaborating with local partners, Americares trains staff, supports health education in the community and improves water, sanitation and hygiene – all of which contribute to healthy pregnancies, safe births and care for newborns.
Americares projects for mothers and children include the following:
Women’s health needs support at every stage of life: from the first days after birth, during childhood and adolescence and through and after a woman’s reproductive years. In Ghana, with partners the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and Ghana-based Women’s Health to Wealth, Americares is making significant strides in addressing the underlying factors contributing to sexual, reproductive, and chronic health risks. The joint program empowers women and communities to safeguard their health and well-being, ensuring a brighter and healthier future for generations to come.
Projects include school-based girls’ clubs, well-woman clinics, training in essential newborn care and supply-chain management support, which helps ensure the efficient distribution of medicine and supplies to health centers.
Training for midwives, facility improvements and community outreach is helping women access the quality health care they need, especially during pregnancy and birth. With support from Americares, in Grand Bassa County six facilities are now providing preventative care and screening for dangerous conditions, including high blood pressure and anemia, and are also able to provide resuscitation to babies born not crying or breathing – last year, saving eight newborns.
Birth injuries called obstetric fistula can cause ongoing urinary and fecal incontinence; as a result, women with these injuries are often isolated and need support for mental as well as physical health. Americares ongoing support for women who have fistulas includes community outreach and education, transportation, surgeries, physical therapy, counseling and livelihood training.
Another multi-year Americares project in Tanzania aimed to build trust between women and health facilities, with the goal of bringing more women to local clinics for every aspect of reproductive health – from family planning to prenatal care and delivery.
In Bangladesh, Colombia, El Salvador and India, Americares projects support the health of women and children by providing access to health education and services as well as water, sanitation and hygiene in clinics, schools and communities.
