Women of Koule celebrating the launch of the project

6 April 2011: Almost 10% of women in Guinea die in childbirth – many of them could be saved with better obstetric care during pregnancy and shortly after delivery. In January, Plan Guinea with financial support of Plan Japan launched a project to make sure that women get the necessary pre- and postnatal care they and their babies need.

"This project will implement strategies to improve the medical services in five rural communes; it will strengthen the capacity of health facilities in basic obstetric care and will ease the evacuation of pregnant women in health centres to the centres of reference," explains Ibrahima Fernandez, the Prefectural Director of Health of N'Zérékoré.

Caring for babies and mothers

Plan’s project aims at the prevention and management of obstetric complications in Koule, Koropara, Kobela and Pale in the prefecture of N'Zerekore and the commune of Zebela in the prefecture of Macenta.

With an investment of 150,000 US $, the project will realize the following activities:

• Training of health workers in emergency obstetric care
• Training of village midwives to identify signs of complications and risks during pregnancy and to refer women to the health centres
• Establishment and equipment of health centres 
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  Plan provides motorcycle ambulances to transport the sick to health centres

  The organization of awareness- raising campaigns in affected rural communities to inform families about the existence of the new birth health centres, and to inform about the need to refer pregnant women to these centres for better monitoring of pregnancy and childbirth
• The renovation of delivery rooms in health facilities in the five rural target communes 
• Free provision of drugs for women to treat complications after childbirth complications; and for the treatment of newborns in need of special medical attention
• Provision of a motorcycle ambulance for each centre (a bike with 3 wheels designed for transporting the sick) to transfer complicated cases to the Centre for Improved Health in Koule 

"With this project we will make sure that each woman enjoys her right to a safe delivery and can give birth in safety and under adequate care,” said Akoy Beavogui, Program Director of Plan Guinea.

Read more about Plan's work in Guinea.