Our partnership with One Heart World-Wide

In 2010, approximately 90% of deliveries used to occur at home and less than 20% of all deliveries were attended by a skilled birth attendant (SBA). Both maternal and neonatal mortality were twice the national average. To address these challenges, OHW implemented the Network of Safety in 2010, improving access to quality services through facility upgrades, provision of equipment and essential drugs, training of health workers and female community health volunteers, mobilization of local stakeholders, and implementation of innovative technology such as mhealth and solar suitcases.

Our project with One Heart World-Wide implemented a mobile health system, as part of OHW’s Network of Safety model, which equipped 450 Female Community Health Volunteers with the technology to communicate with skilled birth attendants (SBA) and train them in newborn care, birth preparedness, and infection prevention. One Heart World-Wide trains FCHVs to be the first point of contact for pregnant women in rural Nepal. Mobile phones are be used to alert SBAs of impending deliveries and serve as a notification device for potential neonatal emergencies. The devices will also collect relevant and accurate maternal and infant data. This project empowered women at the village level to tackle neonatal emergencies and decrease maternal and neonatal mortality in the rural district of Baglung. Since 2010, SBA deliveries have increased from 18% to 79%, and institutional deliveries from 19% to 71%. The FCHVs have gradually been taking ownership of this program as they feel that this program has empowered them and increased their social recognition within their communities.