The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #33477

Gail Fraser Chanpong, MS, DrPH¹, Astrid Sulistomo, MPH², Herqutanto Herqutanto, MPH², Ambar Roestam, MOH², and Dewi Soemarko, MS². (1) International Technical Advisor, P.O. Box 3452, Salem, OR 97302-0452, 503.763.2402, chanpong@attglobal.net, (2) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Jalan Sudirman, Wisma Metropolitan II, Kav. 31, Jakarta, Indonesia, 12920, Indonesia

The maternal mortality rate in Indonesia remains high and is the highest among AESEAN countries in Southeast Asia. In 1998, as many as 450 women died in childbirth in 100,000 live births. As a means of "Putting the Public Back into Public Health", the Government of Indonesia, partnering with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), sponsored maternal-child preventive health program to provide a national network of skilled midwifes. University of Indonesia completed an evaluation of the CIDA-sponsored, UNICEF Safe Motherhood Program. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the social integration and performance of the village midwives (VMW) or Bidan di Desas (BDD). The evaluation reviewed maternal-child health service performance of the village midwife through three objectives by examining the level of social mobilization, village midwife service delivery, and village midwife community integration. The survey participants included 156 midwives, 399 individual community members, and focus group discussions among 44 groups of community leaders, peer educators, and traditional birth attendants. The most important indicator associated with improvement in maternal health was the increase in the coverage of deliveries assisted by skilled midwives. The evaluation documented that there was a steady increase in the coverage of deliveries assisted by the village midwives, ranging from about 36% in 1997 to approximately 60% in 1999 in the three provinces surveyed. The evaluation provided evidence that the Safe Motherhood Program played a significant role in improving coverage of maternal health services.

Learning Objectives:

(
• Recognize the cultural barriers to accessing health services among women in remote, rural regions in Indonesia; (
• Identify methods used to successfully collect and summarize health information at the community level; (
• Discuss “bottom up” planning strategies and for developing comprehensive client records as part of an integrated health information system at the sub-district level.

Keywords: Midwifery, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.