Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
In April 2021, JMKF collaborated with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), to map interventions that addressed maternal and newborn deaths in Tanzania mainland from January 2016 to June 2021. Coverage of data collected is from 184 local councils across the 26 regions with information on the type of interventions, coverage of the interventions, highlighting innovations, key actors, main gaps, and opportunities for scaling up those interventions for Tanzania to reach the related 2030 SDG targets. The report will be used to foster collaboration and support the efforts of the government and other MNCH stakeholders to improve MNCH services by ensuring the survival of all women and newborns during pregnancy, labour and delivery, and the postpartum period.
Poor pregnant women face a multitude of challenges in accessing quality health services especially if they live far away from hospitals and there is no safe and/or affordable transport, which coupled with the lack of good road infrastructure prolongs the journey, resulting in such women taking days to reach health facilities. To contribute to the reduction of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality attributed to these delays in accessing quality routine and emergency obstetric care, JMKF will construct and maintain Maternity Waiting Homes (MWH’s) in Sikonge District Council (DC) of Tabora Region and Nanyumbu DC of Mtwara Region. This is just the beginning. MWHs across the country will provide space for pregnant women and their companions to safely wait for delivery while being attended to by skilled nurse-midwives. To facilitate this, in 2021, JMKF supported the Ministry of Health (MoH) to finalize the 2022 National Maternity Waiting Homes Operational Guidelines to harmonise the management of MWH in Tanzania.
