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Home » Press Center » VSI Newsroom » Zambia PPH dissemination meeting
October 1, 2010

Ministry of Health, VSI highlight successful efforts to address life-threatening bleeding in childbirth in Zambia’s rural communities

(LUSAKA, ZAMBIA) – On September 30, 2010 at the Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, the Ministry of Health of Zambia and VSI convened a dissemination meeting to share the successful results of a collaborative project introducing misoprostol tablets to prevent life-threatening bleeding, or postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), in women who deliver at home in rural Zambia.

With nearly 100 government and civil society stakeholders working in maternal health in attendance, the Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary Dr. Peter Mwaba delivered the opening remarks. “The horror of seeing a woman bleeding,” he said, “shakes every human being. It is sad and tragic that even as we have this opening ceremony, one woman dies every minute due to pregnancy or childbirth and 20-30 of them will go on to develop complications.”

Dr. Mwaba emphasized the success of this initiative, and said, “It is a demonstration of what a public-private partnership can do and it is also a real way of reducing maternal mortality so that we can attain the Millennium Development Goals.”

In 2009, the partners embarked on this pilot project as part of the country’s efforts to address the high rate of maternal mortality, particularly those due to PPH at births that take place outside of health facilities. The 14-month project involved training health care providers and community-level safe motherhood action groups, as well as distribution of the easy-to-use tablets directly to pregnant women attending antenatal care in five rural districts, Kalomo, Kapiri Mposhi, Masaiti, Mungwi and Petauke. Society for Family Health provided the misoprostol tablets for the project and introduced misoprostol for PPH prevention at antenatal care visits in an additional 10 districts. 

Chief MukonchiDr. Ndola Prata, VSI’s Medical and Programs Director and Associate Professor in Residence at the University of California, Berkeley, presented the results of the project evaluation and highlighted success in increasing women’s protection against this life-threatening bleeding. The evaluation was jointly conducted by VSI and the Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability at UC Berkeley and showed the project was effective in educating communities on the risks of PPH, the use of misoprostol and the importance of delivering in health facilities.

To reflect the perspectives of the communities where the project was implemented, Chief Mukonchi from Kapiri Mposhi district spoke in support of the program and a community member, Mrs. Doris Phiri, shared her story with the audience. “After receiving misoprostol tablets at the antenatal clinic,” Doris said, “I carried the tablets in my bag, wherever I went. When I felt labor pains, I reminded my husband to give me the drug after delivery.” Doris began walking to the clinic, but the baby came before she arrived. After delivering on the roadside, her husband assisted her in swallowing her misoprostol tablets to prevent the bleeding that plagued her in previous deliveries.

To conclude the program, Dr. Christine Kaseba, Obstetrician/Gynecologist from the University of Zambia’s Teaching Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, led the meeting participants in developing recommendations to the Ministry of Health on how to incorporate misoprostol for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage into efforts to reduce maternal deaths throughout the country.

Press coverage: “Maternal deaths still high despite serious Govt efforts,” September 30, 2010