The image above is from a cloth training easel that outreach workers use when meeting with pregnant women and their families for education about prenatal care and care during pregnancy.

HDI along with a team of volunteers and paid staff have taken on a huge challenge to significantly reduce maternal mortality and obstetric fistula in a region of Niger where, until recently, obstructed labor has been the leading cause of maternal death. The project has enlisted 300 volunteers (men and women) to do outreach and education about pre-natal care, obstructed labor, and when and how to evacuate a woman to a clinic when labor becomes obstructed.

They have developed the local infrastructure needed to identify women experiencing obstructed labor, and transport them in a timely manner to a facility where they can get the care they need. The early stages of this project have already shown tremendous promise: in the first year of this effort, cases of maternal death from obstructed labor have been reduced to zero. And the incidence of women developing a fistula from obstructed labor was reduced by 75%.

One By One's funds will cover the cost of completing this 2-year pilot project. At the end of this period, HDI will work to publish their efforts and One By One will work to understand the value of this approach. If the results continue to be as positive as they have been so far, we will look forward to the possibility of providing assistance with scaling this work up and bringing this model to other areas.

Map of Niger showing area of One By One funded project in Bankilare Region.