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MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
General Overview
Maternal and Child Health represents one of the focal directions of USAID SUSTAIN project aiming to modernize maternity care in Georgia through promotion and scaling up of evidence-based and family friendly effective perinatal care (EPC).
SUSTAIN is built upon the gains and is an important evolution of JSI Healthy Women in Georgia program which was a pioneer in introduction and institutionalization of evidence-based maternity care in the country. SUSTAIN advances Georgia toward a countrywide scaling up and utilization of modern evidence-based and family friendly maternity care. SUSTAIN project follows three major strategies for accomplishing its MCH goals:
• strengthening private sector’s involvement in promotion of quality MCH services;
• creating centers of best practice and learning centers that will sustain MCH best practices;
• nationwide scaling up of evidence-based maternity care.
The range of activities undertaken by the SUSTAIN Project is broad, comprehensive and encompasses multidisciplinary EPC training courses for the medical professionals, supportive supervision, on-the-job trainings, parental education, routine data collection and analysis, development of national protocols/guidelines, creation of the centers of best practice, collaboration with private sector/insurance companies on promotion of quality MCH etc.
Effective Perinatal Care – fundamentals and principles
The Effective Perinatal Care (EPC) is the package of evidence-based interventions developed by WHO Regional Office for Europe to improve the quality of perinatal care and to address the specific challenges in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (CCEE/NIS).
The foundations of the EPC are the fundamentals and principles for the WHO Regional Office for Europe/ Making Pregnancy Safer program.
Fundamentals:
• Care for pregnancy and childbirth calls for a holistic approach
• Pregnancy and childbirth is an important personal, familial, and social experience
• In pregnancy and childbirth there should be a valid reason to interfere with the natural process
• Medical interventions for pregnant women, mothers and newborns, if indicated, need to be available, accessible, appropriate and safe
Principles:
Based on these fundamentals, the care for pregnancy and childbirth should:
• be based on scientific evidence and cost/effective
• be family centered, respecting confidentiality, privacy, culture, belief and emotional needs of women, families and communities
• ensure involvement of women in decision-making for options of care, as well as for health policies
• ensure a continuum of care from communities to the highest level of care, including efficient regionalization, and multidisciplinary approach. |
