Every minute another woman dies in childbirth
The vast majority occur in developing countries
Over 80% of these deaths are preventable
The Facts
Maternal deaths in childbirth may not make the headlines like other natural disasters, but over 342,900 women die in childbirth every year - 99% in developing countries. Many more women suffer debilitating complications
- In the UK, a woman's lifetime risk of dying is just 1 in 8,000
- In some areas of Sub-Saharan Africa it is 1 in 8
- More than 1,000 women die in childbirth in Africa every day
- Nearly 4 million newborns die within 28 days of birth
- With no mother 50% of newborns will die before their 5th birthday
- Over 2 million women suffer from obstetric fistula, a debilitating complication of obstructed labour.
RCOG SMILE Appeal
The SMILE appeal - "Saving mothers' and infants' lives through education" - is a charitable initiative launched by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) which aims to tackle the devastating problems of global maternal and infant mortality. We use the experience and expertise of our global network of members and our partnerships with key organisations, to make an effective contribution to improving sexual and reproductive healthcare, particularly in developing countries.
We work in many different ways to achieve our goals including:
- advocacy - raising awareness of maternal health issues
- strategic programmes of work - working with governments and international organisations to improve quality of care through knowledge transfer, monitoring and evaluation of outcomes.
KEY INITIATIVES FOR 2011/2012
Global Fellowship Programme
The RCOG sends trained doctors to developing countries for periods of up to 1 year to assist in the training of personnel at local health care facilities.
These Fellows work alongside local doctors and midwives to provide care for these women on a daily basis as well as improving standards and promoting measures to reduce maternal mortality in the surrounding area.
Secondary School Campaign
The aim of this Campaign is to encourage Secondary Schools to become involved in our Global Fellowship Programme and help us to raise the money to fund a named Fellowship doctor. The secondary school students are able to follow the doctor they are helping to sponsor before, during and after his/ her placement. This gives them a valuable insight into the life and work of a doctor, as well as being able to see exactly how their sponsorship has helped to improve maternal and newborn healthcare.
We aim to offer Secondary School Students the opportunity of:
- Hearing a presentation about our International work
- Help with their Fundraising activities for our SMILE campaign
- Entering an art competition at the RCOG to celebrate International Women's Day
- Assistance with projects to improve Women's Health both at home and abroad
- Receiving reliable information packages about Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
The idea is to work with each secondary school and adapt the package to their individual needs. The schools involved will be able to discuss potential ideas and share experiences on the RCOG website blog dedicated to the Campaign. We are also encouraging communication on Twitter and Facebook.
Life-saving Skills - Essential Obstetric Care and Newborn Care (LSS-EOC&NC)
This highly successful RCOG programme is a partnership with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, which teaches life saving skills and helps to develop the capacity of maternal and newborn health care systems in developing and under-resourced countries. These three-day courses are aimed at all levels of healthcare personnel and specifically focus on the five major causes of maternal death. Selected participants are trained to work alongside overseas tutors, in order to establish a group of core trainers who are then able to build capacity and sustainability by running regular local starter and refresher courses. To date we have trained more than 2000 health workers in many different countries including Somaliland, Swaziland, Tanzania, Malawi, Malaysia and Kenya.
Key objectives for 2011/2012:
- roll out of the programme in five countries - Sierra Leone, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Orissa State (India) - in partnership with DFID
- delivery of LSS courses in further countries where maternal mortality rates are unacceptably high such as Pakistan and Nigeria.
Obstetric Fistula - Fistula Training Programme
Obstetric Fistula resulting from obstructed or protracted labour is avoidable if complications are identified early in labour and the baby is delivered by caesarean section. An estimated two million women worldwide suffer from Fistula, most in developing countries, and in nearly all cases it results in the death of the baby and leaves the woman suffering from multiple problems, including incontinence, infection, pain, personal shame and social isolation.
Working with the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and the International Society of Obstetric Fistula Surgeons (ISOFS), we have developed a Fistula Training Programme for surgeons that we are piloting in Africa and Asia with the support of UNFPA and WHO.
RCOG Eurovision - Eastern Europe
There is an overwhelming need to develop awareness of women's health care issues in Eastern Europe and ex-Soviet bloc countries. This project aims to harness the expertise in-country to develop systems, good practice and experience-sharing across a range of areas in women's health. Experts from the UK will facilitate the project, offering guidance and support to overseas colleagues. We are currently working in Lithuania, Kosovo, Albania and Latvia and planning on expanding to Uzbekistan, Turkey and Hungary.
Advocacy - Raising awareness of maternal health at local, regional and global levels
The RCOG works closely with other professional bodies and NGOs to raise awareness of global maternal and infant mortality, with a particular focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 - to reduce newborn and maternal mortality. The aim is to reduce maternal mortality by 75% by 2015. We are actively lobbying G20 and G8 Leaders, Heads of State, MPs and MEPs in both developed and under-resourced countries to highlight the needs and demand more resources to be directed towards achieving this goal. We use our 11,500 members of the RCOG in over 90 countries to influence global political decision making affecting mothers and babies.
Achievements
During the past six years our efforts have ensured that :
- over 2,300 health workers have been trained in essential obstetric care and 175 of these have been trained as trainers
- thousands of women are benefiting from improved maternal healthcare
- outcomes for children have improved, reducing the number of orphans and the community burden of caring for them
- infrastructure in under-resourced / developing countries has improved
How You Can Help
These SMILE initiatives require significant funding. We don't send money, we send doctors. Most of the RCOG Fellows and Members give their time for free to undertake this challenging work. But to achieve our goals we need funding for the other costs of the projects such as equipment, medical supplies, travel and accommodation.
To find out more about our work and how you can support us log on to our website - http://www.rcog.org.uk/smile-appeal or contact Sophie Hime in the International Office on Tel: + 44 (0)20 7772 6467 or e-mail: shime@rcog.org.uk
