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Success Story
Maternity hospitals in
the country’s capital are
offering better maternal
and child care
Attention to Quality Improves Maternal Care
Photo: Abt Associates
More and more women give birth with
assistance from their family members.
The introduction of quality
improvement methods in
health care facilities gives
medical staff the tools to
uncover problems and then
fi nd solutions.
“I always dreamed of giving birth with my husband present,
and here I was allowed to,” said Olessya MIkhereva, who
recently gave birth at the Astana City Maternity Hospital #1 in
Kazakhstan’s capital city. “The medical personnel helped us
through it all.”
Having family members present during birth and other changes
were recently introduced at maternity hospitals and wards in
Astana with support from the USAID Health Reform project. The
project has been introducing improvements to the quality of care
for mothers and newborns in Astana since 2005.
USAID has helped measure the quality of care at the city’s
hospitals by establishing indicators, creating client surveys,
and setting up a monitoring team to work with head physicians.
Initial surveys in the city’s hospitals revealed a number of areas
that could use improvement: new mothers lacked information on
family planning options, the hospitals did not adequately prevent
hypothermia in newborns, and only 10 percent of women were
giving birth with family members present.
To address these issues, USAID organized a working group and
trained a number of gynecologists, midwives, and nurses from
maternity wards and primary care facilities. Information stands
were erected in each facility to increase women’s awareness of
contraception they could use after delivery. To further encourage
participation of family members during birth, hospital rooms
were remodeled so that they offer more privacy and a friendlier
environment for their patients and their family members.
“The greatest challenge was to change attitudes among
the hospital staff,” said Anara Kusainova, an obstetrician-gynecologist.
“Employees were scared to reveal problems or to
participate in discussions for fear of being fired. Now the clinic
staff understands that the quality of service depends on every
member on the floor and that only through cooperative efforts
can problems be solved.”
Expectant mothers also appreciate the improvement. The
number of women who bring family members to support them
through the birth has doubled citywide to 18 to 20 percent.
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