Child Survival Project

The health issues and barriers that affect all Haitians are compounded in women and children by significant difficulties with respect to childbirth, sexually transmitted infections, household dynamics, and overall access to health care. Lack of family planning, the common absence of male heads of households, and the scarcity of health resources and referral systems also help to create an environment that is not optimal for maternal health or child survival. The maternal mortality rate in Haiti is 670 per 100,000 births and 1 in 44 women in Haiti will die as a result of childbirth. In 2006, only 26% of births in Haiti were attended by skilled health personnel, and, in the same year, 22,000 children did not survive to see their 5th Birthday. 

In Petit-Goave, Haiti, Global Health Action’s Child Survival project (2004-2010) was developed to reduce infant and maternal mortality in that district. The premise of the project is that when mothers are healthy, they are better able to bear and raise healthy children and that by increasing the health of mothers and women of reproductive age, the project will contribute to the reduction of overall infant and maternal mortality. We focused on three intervention areas: (a) the immunization of pregnant women and women of reproductive age, (b) promotion of breastfeeding, and (c) improvement of maternal and newborn care by ensuring quality of and access to pre/post-natal and infant services.

Our approach included:

• Training community health workers, traditional birth attendants, and local leaders in maternal and newborn health, nutrition, and child health care.
• Building the capacity of the local staff and systems to provide health care both as part of the district hospital and existing clinic system and by utilizing mobile clinics to reach more isolated communities.
• Increasing awareness and educating people directly on key pre-natal, post-natal, maternal/child, and public health topics, utilizing means and methods that already exist in the community – mother’s groups, youth clubs, festivals and community meetings, radio broadcasts, etc.

GHA’s key institutional partners in carrying out the project activities are the Methodist Church of Haiti’s Community Development Office and the Haitian Ministry of Health’s Unité Communale de Santé (UCS).