How 15,000 Midwives Will Save Mothers’ Lives

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Yesterday, Impatient Optimists published a post titled, How 15,000 Midwives Will Save Mothers’ Lives, that describes a new project by AMREF, the African Medical & Research Foundation, that aims to train 15,000 midwives across several countries in Africa using a combination of mobile technology and classroom training.

From Impatient Optimists:

More women will survive the birth of their children in sub-Saharan Africa because of a new initiative launched by AMREF, the African Medical & Research Foundation. Called Stand Up for African Mothers, AMREF will dispatch and train 15,000 midwives by 2015 primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Angola, and Mozambique. Other countries in east, west and South Africa will also receive AMREF-trained midwives. AMREF has provided midwife training in Africa for over 50 years…

…According to AMREF one midwife can care for 500 women and deliver 100 babies. By 2015 15,000 midwives will effectively care for seven million African women each year. Due to the scale of the program Stand Up for African Mothers has the potential to significantly reduce maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, this continent-wide effort is estimated to reduce African maternal mortality by 25 percent according to AMREF.

Read the full story here.

Learn more about AMREF’s Stand Up for African Mothers campaign here.