142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

304747
Saving Mothers, Giving Life Birth Plan: A Cost-Effective Option for Reducing Maternal Mortality

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 : 10:42 AM - 10:54 AM

Nicole Vincent, MA , Strategic Communications and Marketing Division, ICF International, Rockville, MD
Samantha Herrera, MPH , International Health and Development Division, ICF International, Rockville, MD
John Manda , Communications Support for Health, Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation Unit, Chemonics International, Lusaka, Zambia
Kevin Chilemu , Communications Support for Health, Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation Unit, ICF International, Lusaka, Zambia
Victor Peleka , Zambia Communications Support for Health, ICF International, Lusaka, Zambia
Collins Muntanga , Commuications Support for Health, ICF International, Lusaka, Zambia
Thoko Kachipande, MPH , ICF International, Rockville, MD
Background: Efforts to reduce the extremely high maternal mortality rate in Zambia have recently received considerable attention. Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL), launched in 2012 by the U.S. Government, is a multi-partner initiative pilot program implemented in select districts in Zambia and Uganda. With the goal of reducing maternal mortality by 50%, the program in Zambia focused on creating demand for facility-based deliveries and postpartum care using a pictorial birth plan tool, radio advertisements, and the community-based interpersonal intervention “Change Champions.”

Purpose: The USAID-funded Communications Support for Health (CSH) project assessed the effectiveness of demand-creation activities in Zambia to determine the need for improvement and scalability.  

Methods: CSH used a multi-pronged, mixed methods approach. Operations research included in-depth interviews with 54 target audience members and local implementers. An evaluation included a rapid household survey with 152 pregnant women and mothers to measure their exposure, perception, and perceived impact of SMGL. The evaluation also included in-depth interviews with 23 “Change Champions.”

Results: The operations research and evaluation discovered the birth plan to be a potentially high-impact, low-cost, scalable option. The evaluation revealed that the birth plan received a high rate of exposure (71%), recall of messages (34–54%), reported use (82%), and positive perceptions (82%). The operations research also demonstrated that the birth plan was highly useful and accepted. The research underscored the need for consistent training and collaboration among local stakeholders to support effective implementation of the birth plan.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the effectiveness of a potentially low-cost, high-impact intervention for reducing maternal mortality in Zambia. Explore the role of interpersonal communications in changing maternal and child health behaviors.

Keyword(s): Maternal and Child Health, Community-Based Partnership & Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I'm the Deputy Project Manager of the CSH project, and one of the primary researchers on this study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.