Improving Maternal and Child Health in Madagascar

We continue to make meaningful progress with Project Votsira in strengthening maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes across our targeted communities. The project has reached 1,200 community members through a combination of 420 MCH group sessions and 6,300 household visits, allowing for consistent monitoring, counselling, and personalized support for mothers and caregivers. In August, we held capacity building efforts through the training of 28 community health workers and 14 CSB staff. This training focused on essential MCH competencies, including breastfeeding best practices, safeguarding principles, and patient-centred care. These sessions aimed to improve both the quality of service delivery and community trust in local health structures.

Recruitment for the next sessions round is currently underway, accompanied by baseline surveys to evaluate participant needs and initial knowledge levels. Our planned Roundtable and Community Feedback Meetings were, however, rescheduled for late October. Furthermore, the results of our Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) from the previous program round showed significant improvements as there was an increase of 21% in participant knowledge, reflecting an effective session and high community engagement. In addition to this, 1,315 children were vaccinated, 90% of deliveries were attended by skilled professionals, and 95% of mothers completed the minimum recommended number of antenatal visits.

We are very grateful for all of the activities achieved that contributed to these remarkable milestones. We wouldn’t have reached them without your unwavering support. We want to thank you for your trust and continued contribution to the work we do at SEED.