Dial-an-Obstetrician hits Aceh

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Source: World VisionDate: 25 Oct 2006Indonesia:
Dial-an-Obstetrician hits Aceh
by Katrina Peach - Communications

Indonesian village midwives assisting pregnant women with complicated births in the tsunami-ravaged province of Aceh will be able to dialhelp next month thanks to an innovative World Vision project.The ICT4D, or Information Communications Technology for DevelopmentProject, is a world first and will enable the midwives to phone adoctor or obstetrician 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wheneverthey face a challenging delivery.Indonesia has one of Southeast Asia's highest maternal mortality rates, at 307 deaths per 100,000 live births; a figure that is seventimes higher than that of neighbouring Thailand and five times higher than China. The rate of infant mortality during birth in Indonesia iscurrently 42 per 1,000 live births.The remote province of Aceh, which was ravaged by the December 2004tsunami that left 130,000 locals dead and another 570,000 homeless,has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Indonesia.The project involves cooperation between World Vision, Unicef and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the USA'sprestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Last week, more than 200 Acehnese midwives and local midwife coordinators undertook training in the provincial capital of BandaAceh to prepare for the launch of the programme in November.103 midwives were provided with general capacity training to increase their knowledge of difficult deliveries and improve their skills at data collection and they will form part of a "control group". An additional 123 midwives and eight midwife coordinators received the same training as well as special lessons in the use of mobile phones and how to communicate remotely with doctors and obstetricians. Thesecond group will be provided with mobile phones next month and willuse them to dial assistance when they face challenging deliveries."This is a first for World Vision and a very exciting project with the potential to save lives," World Vision Indonesia Tsunami ResponseDirector David Taylor said."We know that there are opportunities to harness technology fordevelopment and this is a pilot project which, if successful, could berolled out in other provinces and countries where World Vision works,"he said.The project is being piloted in Aceh Besar district, which has apopulation of 321,459 people living in 601 villages spread across 22sub-districts.