 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Henia Dakkak, MD, MPH, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Columbia University - School of Public Health - Heilbrunn Center for Population and Family Health, 122 East 42nd Street, 12 Floor, New York, NY 10168, 212-551-3113, hdakkak@womenscommission.org
Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium with partner organizations are implementing a project with funding from the Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) program – School of Public Health at Columbia University in 11 sites of refugee and internally displaced person (IDP) settings of in order to improve emergency obstetric care and reduce maternal mortality. Through site visits, interviews and monitoring of staff working in delivery rooms to the proposed (refugee/IDP) sites in the project it was evident that there is a need to improve service delivery in basic emergency obstetric care by: 1. Introducing anti-convulsant drugs to improve treatment of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia 2. Introducing uterotonic / oxytoxic drugs to prevent postpartum bleeding 3. Introducing Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) kits to reduce post abortion complication Introduction of three evidence-based interventions in basic emergency obstetric care and staff training at the level of refugee and IDP camps had resulted in better outcomes. The three interventions include the use of magnesium sulphate in treatment of eclampsia, use of uterotonic drugs for active management of third stage of labor in order to prevent postpartum bleeding and the use of MVA kits to manage post-abortion complications. There is a great need to improve basic emergency obstetric by introducing evidence-based interventions in the form of introducing drugs and procedures, conducting appropriate training, regular monitoring and technical support of health staff is cost effective and will have an impact in reducing maternal death by at least 40% among war-affected populations.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Access, Maternal Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.