Our Partnership with CDI

Healthcare in Kyrgyzstan has gradually improved over the last few decades, but maternal and newborn mortality rates remain high. Many mothers give birth to their babies without a supportive partner present to aid their labor or advocate for their needs. There are also limited opportunities for health workers to build their professional skills for pregnancy care. However, in a pastoralist society like Kyrgyzstan, the health of the community’s animals determines the health of the community’s people – both physically and economically.

One Day’s Wages partnered with Crosslink Development International (CDI) to improve maternal health outcomes in Kyrgyzstan, and to build the capacity of health practitioners and veterinary workers. Our partnership contributed to improved maternal health through a doula training workshop; a pregnancy health educational program for obstetricians, midwives, and nurses; and the distribution of LifeWraps that prevent postpartum hemorrhage. Doulas and health workers in turn educated their clients and pregnant women in their communities. Our partnership also enabled the promotion and distribution of the Kyrgyz translation of Handbook on Animal Health to veterinarians and farmers from 7 regions of Kyrgyzstan. Through the support of doulas trained by CDI, cesarean surgeries have been averted, labors have been shortened, women’s emotional and mental states have been improved, breastfeeding improved, and several women comforted after stillbirths, when they would have otherwise been alone in their grief.