Sanofi Espoir to fund projects to improve maternal, child health

MANILA, Philippines - Sanofi Espoir Foundation, in partnership with the International Confederation of Midwives, recently launched an initiative dubbed “A midwife for every mother and baby” which calls for projects focused on fighting maternal and neonatal mortality in developing countries for the neediest communities by strengthening the midwifery practices. 

The foundation has allocated more than one million euros in funding for this program.

The projects eligible for this call for proposals should primarily aim at enhancing the skills of midwives to fight maternal and neonatal mortality. They should help strengthen midwifery competencies through initial and continuing education, and must also help recruit and retain midwives in remote areas.

The role of midwives is critical in improving the maternity mortality rate (MMR) worldwide. According to reported data, approximately 300,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth each year.  In the Philippines, maternal mortality rate is at 162 per 100,000 live births, far from the Millennium Development Goal of 52 that must be achieved by 2015.

In community settings, healthcare centers, hospitals and maternity homes, midwives are at the forefront of providing healthcare to mothers during pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, childbirth and post-partum period, including family planning.  They provide care during normal childbirths and can identify and manage childbirth complications before these threaten the survival of mother or child.

The global distribution of midwives is extremely uneven. In the 58 developing countries examined in the 2011 State of the World’s Midwifery, there are only 17 percent of the world’s skilled birth attendants, even though 58 percent of all births globally take place in these countries.

In most of these countries, there are not enough fully qualified midwives. The World Health Organization says the situation is severe in 38 countries and even worse in rural and remote communities.

Retrospective studies have established that in order to save the lives of women and newborn children and improve their overall health, the midwifery profession needs to be properly organized and midwives appropriately trained to acquire the competencies required to provide quality care.

Detailed information about “A midwife for every mother and baby” initiative and application forms are available at www.fondation-sanofi-espoir.com/en/index.php. Submission of applications is until May 31.  Entries should be sent to [email protected] copy furnished Khristine Cabanayan ([email protected]), communications officer of Sanofi-Aventis Philippines.