Physical Health Kenya Project #25829

Maternal and Child Health Clinics

by Village Hopecore International

Project Report | Mar 29, 2018
A new cohort of health promoters

By Terry Makena | Health Educator

The new cohort with the MedTreks trainers

Over the next two years, 2018 and 2019, we aim to implement a far-reaching community health worker program. We will train each of these neighborhood community health volunteers (primarily women) to be agents of change in their community. They will conduct outreach to homes, monitor women’s pregnancies, and ensure our schools are participating in healthy behavior.

Each of these NCHVs are equipped with a mobile phone. HopeCore has developed a mobile application for both data collection and training purposes. The NCHVs have, at their fingertips, a huge amount of health information that will support them as they offer services to the women in their community.

In January, HopeCore launched the above program to support the overarching maternal and child health program. We are so excited to share the details of the training of these health promotors. The training was offered over 6 days.

The training objectives for the 6 day training were 1) to have competent NCHVs; 2) To be the first line in combating poverty in the community; 3) To build connections with others in the community; 4) To explore the importance of partnership in improving community health.

Day 1: Introduction, purpose of NCHVs, HopeCore's objectives, governance of NCHVs within HopeCore's existing strutcutres, roles and responsibilities of NCHVs, leadership qualities of a community leader, communication skills, counselling skills.

The first session on the concept of NCHVs was a word visualization exercise where the participants were asked to say out loud the first words that came their minds upon hearing the words neighborhood community health volunteers. At this point the participants were already so eager to strategize and plan that the agenda be adjusted and we have more time for this sessions. The topics were well structured and captured the main basics that the NCHVs needed to know for the day.

Communications skills were greatly emphasized during this day towards focusing on the approach we give to our clients in the community, while delivering our services for the success of our programs. Qualities of a community leader were also echoed on day one training, considering the fact that our NCHV are the lead ambassadors who will act as change agents in our community through their leadership qualities.

Day 2: First Aid and CPR

On day 2 of the training, our neighborhood community health volunteers were trained by the MedTreks team. The trainees were very attentive during this session, after realizing that this is something that can be of help, not only in HopeCore but in the community and in their homes. Most of the trainees are parents and were very grateful to MedTreks Nurses for giving them an opportunity to learn how to handle most of the accidents at home or at work, through first aid and other emergencies.

Day 3: Preconception care, focused antenatal care, individual birth plans, breastfeeding, family planning

Day 3 started with a recap of the previous days in which the NCHVs remembered 95% of what they had previously covered. The topics here were of particular interest to the NCHVs and they have requested additional trainings on these topics.

Day 3: Nutrition, malnutrition, growth monitoring, deworming, and Vitamin A

The trainers used the morning sections to cover malnutrition, vitamin A and deworming, summing it up with a description of the HopeCore's health hotline. After lunch the trainers jumped to tackle growth monitoring and nutrition assessment, which took bit of time to show the practical part in growth monitoring and filling in the forms, which took much time for the trainees to comprehend the whole procedure. The trainees will need refresher trainings on how the NCHVs are doing the growth monitoring in the field.

Day 4: Introduction to sexual and reproductive health, STIs, HIV/AIDS & PMTCT, tuberculosis, youth counseling and referals, value clarification, data collection

Day 4 was very successful and we are expecting a great impact based on the training topics we trained especially on youth matters from the villages, churches, homes and community at large

Day 5: Malaria, diarrhea, oral rehydration therapy, coughs and colds, skin and eye infections

Today, emphasis was put on diarrhoea and oral rehydration therapy administration in order to curb the number of diarrhoea case in our community. Malaria was too emphasized and the importance of using a mosquito net was shown to be essential in curbing the spread of malaria.

Day 6: Water, hygiene, and sanitation, data application training

The NCHVs were trained on the importance of drinking clean water and encouraging hand washing in their communities. We discussed the impact dirty water and lack of hand hygiene can have on the health of children. Additionally, the mobile application for data collection and education was introduced, but there needs to be significant additional training on the application. This additional training will be done during the monthly refresher trainings that will come in the future.

The whole team looks forward to integrating these neighborhood community health volunteers into HopeCore's maternal and child health programming.

This year is the year of education at HopeCore which is why we have focused so heavily in describing the training in this report. We will have monthly refreshers for the NCHVs and will continue to build their knowledge base and skills. By empowering community members with health information we are stopping the spread of misinformation, acting as a resource to the community, and imbedding accurate health information providers in homes around Maara Sub county.

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Jan 2, 2018
A summary of 2017

By Anne Gildea | Project Leader

Oct 3, 2017
Our beneficiaries

By Anne Gildea | Project Leader

Have you been wondering who HopeCore helps through our Maternal and Child Health program? Or how we decide what our programming should be?

We are looking to expand our maternal and child health clinics to be a comprehenisive program that supports women from their child's conception through the first five years of the child's life. We are currently looking for partners to support us in this effort, but in the meantime have done some research into the experiences of childbirth and pregancy of women in our community. Read through the stories below to hear directly from the women in Maara Sub County!

Nancy is a 35 year old mother of 4. Her children are age 17, 10, 7 and 5. This means she had her first child when she was 18 years old. All of her pregnancies were planned except for the fourth one. Also, they were all born by the same father. Nancy received support from her sister, husband, and her grandmother. However, she did not receive any support by her bothers which was caused strife in the family. During the birth of her first child she had malaria, and pneumonia because of this she could not breast feed. The first child was feed formula. She was also able to visit the dispensary six times during the pregnancy, and she delivered this baby at a hospital. For her next child she was able to breastfeed but began to introduce solid food at three months. Then her last two children after learning from her own experience she breast feed for six months before giving them solid food. She found this method better because her last two babies were not getting as sick as the first two. Even though she visited a dispensary four times with the rest of the pregnancies most of her learning came from her own experience. Her advice to others is to give birth at a hospital like she did for each of her children in case of complications. Lastly, she encourages mothers to get tested for different illnesses before getting pregnant.

Betty is 24 years old and from Gakth. She is married with two children ages 7 and one and a half. Her 7 year old child attends school, and her and her husband are both farmers. Both children were planned and it was her own decision to get pregnant. She did not speak to anyone else for advice. She was very excited each time she found out she was pregnant and was not scared. She went to a dispensary three times for each pregnancy. She felt like the second pregnancy was much easier and she prepared for each child’s arrival by being less active in the last trimester. Her first child was born at home by her grandmother who had lots of experience with being a midwife. Betty was able to go to the hospital the following day for a checkup. Her second child was born in the hospital which she felt was a better experience, because of the care she received. Both children were breastfed and introduced to solid food at six months which was advised by a doctor. She advises others to deliver at hospitals because of the complications, and better care at them too.

Lucy is 38 years old and has four children. The children are ages 13, 10, 5 and 2 and a half. She is from Kigui. The first three pregnancies were planned, and she did have complications with her second pregnancy. With her second child the position of the baby caused her to not be able to work at all. This caused a financial burden for her family. Everything turned out okay and the first three children were born in the hospital. There she had support from her whole family. Her fourth pregnancy caused the most strife for her family. She did not have any support from home, felt financially unprepared, and did not know her due date. Because she did not have support from her husband or family her fourth child was delivered at home with the help of neighbors. After delivery she went to a dispensary right away. All four children were breastfed. the first one was introduced to solid foods at three months and the second one was introduced to solid foods at two weeks. the next two children were introduced to solid foods at six months.

Christine is 30 years old. She has three children, ages 18,13 and 6. her first pregnancy was not planned and she was not married. she was still living in her parents home. that child was delivered in a hospital as her parents were able to afford the hospital bill. Her next child was born on the way to the hospital but since she lived so far away she was not able to make it there on time. her friends helped deliver the baby and she went home immediately after. she had not visited a hospital until two weeks later. Her 3rd child who was also born at home with the help of the neighbors. she was able to visit a hospital two weeks later. Sadly, Christine was not supported very well especially by her husband, and so the financial burden was on her as well as taking care of the children.her first born was not able to attend secondary school because it was too expensive. She is hoping her 2nd child will be able to attend next year. She advises future mothers to visit the hospital when they can, eat a balanced diet, and find way to support the family.

Mercy is 20 years old with one 2 month old child. She was able to visit a true hospital twice while pregnant as well as deliver in a hospital. She did not spend much time at the hospital after the delivery and has only returned for immunizations. Thankfully, Mercy has had much support from both sides of the family and plans to stick to the advice she has been given to breastfeed and introduce solid food at 6 months.

Lydia is 30 and has 5 children ages 18, 11, 8, 6, and 2 and a half. Her three oldest were born to her first husband and the younger two were born to her current husband. With each child she was able to visit a dispensary 3 times during the pregnancy. The first child was born at a hospital in Nairobi, but because she could not afford the hospital, the rest were born at home. Each of the first 4 were breastfed and the last was not because he refused to. Because of this he was started on solid foods much sooner than the rest to limit the cost of formula. Lydia advises women to deliver in the hospital if possible and to make regular hospital visits during pregnancy.

Stella is 28 years old and has two children ages 3 and 3 months. Her husband is a builder. Both of her pregnancies were planned and she hopes to have more kids in the future. During her first pregnancy she was not able to eat well because she did not have an appetite. She ended up losing a lot of weight. During her second pregnancy she was able to eat better. She ate a lot more greens as she had been advised by the doctor. After her second child was born she developed a food allergy and needed to stay in the hospital for several days after delivery. Thankfully, for both pregnancies she was able to visit the hospital several times. Also, both kids were delivered in the hospital. Unfortunately, Stella’s family kept their distance after the children were born for fear that she would ask for financial assistance.

Also! We recently published a video of our work in Maara Sub County. Click below to learn more.

Links:

A 16 year history

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