VSI on FacebookVSI on TwitterVSI News feedVSI on YouTube
 
Home » Press Center » VSI Newsroom » Pilot in Kenya reaches pregnant women
February 23, 2011

Pilot program in Kenya reaches pregnant women with misoprostol for PPH prevention

(NAIROBI, KENYA) – On Thursday, March 17, 2011, Venture Strategies Innovations (VSI) and the Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society (KOGS) will present the final results of a collaborative project piloting misoprostol for prevention of pospartum hemorrhage (PPH) to the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MOPHS) and maternal health stakeholders at a dissemination meeting at the InterContinental Nairobi Hotel. The results are poised to inform a national policy discussion around distribution of misoprostol at the community level for prevention of PPH.

In late 2009, VSI, in collaboration with KOGS and the Department of Reproductive Health within the MOPHS, initiated a six-month program introducing misoprostol for prevention of PPH in two rural districts in Kenya. Postpartum hemorrhage, or excessive bleeding after childbirth, is a leading causes of maternal death in Kenya and globally. The pilot program was designed to offer Kenyan women who still give birth at home (55% of all deliveries) a simple and effective intervention to protect against this life-threatening bleeding.

Kenya MotherSince 92% of Kenyan women utilize antenatal care (ANC) during pregnancy, distribution of misoprostol at ANC is a strategy for increasing protection from PPH among those who deliver at home. The PPH program piloted misoprostol distribution to pregnant women at ANC visits in Kitui and Maragua districts. VSI Associate Medical Director Dr. Nuriye Hodoglugil and Dr. Zahida Qureshi, KOGS, conducted the initial training of trainers in November 2009. Subsequent trainings included over 500 ANC providers and Community Midwives followed by sensitization of more than 3,000 community health workers to raise awareness of the program in the communities. Over the six months of implementation, ANC providers enrolled more than 3,800 pregnant women, exceeding the projected number. All women received messages on safe delivery and PPH prevention, and nearly all took misoprostol tablets home in case they could not return to a facility to deliver.

The project builds upon the registration of misoprostol for prevention and treatment of PPH in 2008 in Kenya where VSI has been working with local partners to increase access to misoprostol to address this important cause of preventable maternal mortality. In July 2009, with support from VSI, Kenya registered misoprostol for the treatment of incomplete abortion and miscarriage as a strategy for preventing maternal deaths due to complications of abortion.

For more on VSI’s work in Kenya, click here.  Read local news stories about this project.