Image: Part of the maternity emergency prevention training in Bhutan
Over the past two decades, Bhutan has made steady progress in reducing preventable maternal mortality from 255 to 89 per 100,000, however the country remains in the top 12 highest burden maternal mortality countries in the Asian region.
Led by Professor Caroline Homer, Burnet Institute has partnered with the UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Office to work with midwives and health professionals in a number of countries, including Bhutan.
This work seeks to increase capacity in maternity emergency prevention and management through the delivery of the Helping Mothers Survive (HMS) low-dose, high-frequency training approach.
This past month, one of Burnet's midwives, Rachel Smith, facilitated a Masters training course in the nation's capital, Thimphu, and supported the new Master trainers in rolling out training in Wangdue, a provincial region of Bhutan.
After this supported training, the local Bhutanese Master trainers will continue to deliver training to build skill, knowledge and capacity in the management of bleeding during/after childbirth and hypertension in pregnancy. Both of these are significant contributors to maternal mortality worldwide.
This year Ms Smith and the Burnet team have delivered this training in Papua New Guinea and Bhutan in partnership with JHPIEGO and Laerdal Global Health.
Further training is planned for Laos and Cambodia this year and several high-burden maternal mortality countries in 2020.
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