Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health
Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health
Project Highlights
Empowering victims of gender-based violence
To better support victims of gender-based violence (GBV) in Benin, the USAID IHSA Activity helped develop an integrated services model of GBV care that has helped more than 11,000 survivors connect to the medical, psychosocial, and legal services they need.
Improving patient engagement in antenatal care
The Utz’ Na’n (Healthy Mothers and Babies) project invites pregnant indigenous women to join pregnancy clubs that offer peer support, health information, and patient-midwife bonds that increase access to culturally relevant antenatal care (ANC) services. Group ANC has also been adapted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Uganda.
Empowering Individuals and Strengthening Services for Women, Newborns, Children, and Adolescents
Each year, there are an estimated 4.5 million maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths and approximately 5 million deaths of children under the age of 5 years globally, due to largely preventable causes. Most of the maternal, newborn, and child deaths and stillbirths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Early pregnancies and childbirth are common among adolescents in LMICs, and associated complications are among the leading causes of death for girls aged 15–19 years.
To address these preventable deaths and help women, newborns, children, and adolescents survive, thrive, and reach their full potential, MSH invests in quality, people-centered primary health care that brings essential health services closer to communities. Working at every level of the health system and across the public and private sectors, we support national and local partners to develop resilient health systems and cross-sectoral partnerships that improve health outcomes by enhancing access to and quality of integrated health services. We actively engage women and adolescents in the design and implementation of culturally respectful interventions that meet their needs and ensure good health throughout their lifetime. By leveraging proven tools to better support health care workers, we help strengthen patient experiences; promote continuous quality improvement; and bring lifesaving health innovations, like group antenatal and postnatal care, to scale.
Our work:
- Improves the competencies and resiliency of health care workers
- Strengthens patient-provider relationships
- Employs positive youth development and human-centered design approaches
- Delivers essential services and quality standards across the continuum of care
- Offers peer support before, during, and after pregnancy
Ensuring Availability and Accessibility of Quality Family Planning Services
Through the ONSE Health Activity, we supported Malawi’s Ministry of Health and Population in expediting the scale-up of Sayana Press, a new model of long-acting contraceptive protection for women and youth, in all districts. Using supportive supervision in 19 facilities, we provided on-the-job mentorship, joint problem solving, and communication training to build the competencies of health workers to provide Sayana Press across communities, helping to ensure the availability and accessibility of quality family planning services in hard-to-reach areas.
Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health Fact Sheet
Despite significant progress, many women, newborns, children, and adolescents across the globe still do not receive quality, respectful, and responsive care. Each year, there are an estimated 4.5 million maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths globally due to preventable causes. Providing quality health care requires a complex web of organizations, individuals, processes, and actions that make up a health system. Expanding access to and use of integrated, equitable, high-quality, and people-centered health services at all levels of the health system is core to our work at MSH..