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Personnel of Vayk Medical Union and children whose artwork decorates the walls of the School of Motherhood |
Study tour to Lithuania inspired participants to establish Schools of Motherhood in four cities of Armenia
Dr. Ruzanna Muradyan, one of the initiators of the SoM in Talin, Aragatsotn region, noted that “participation in the training course gave an opportunity to see how pregnant women are treated in Lithuania and how important it is to keep them aware of danger signs and complications aroused during the pregnancies and improve quality of obstetric care, which ultimately leads to the decrease of the maternal mortality rate.”
In May 2007, 14 representatives from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and from healthcare providers in five regions of Armenia (Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Syunik and Vayots Dzor) participated in a one-week study tour on Emergency Obstetric Care, conducted by the Health Economics Center (SEC) in Lithuania.
The program focused on healthy pregnancy and safe delivery and was conducted by managers of the obstetric care system in Lithuania. The program included visits to all levels of health care institutions involved in provision of obstetric care services. Visiting the School of Motherhood (SoM) in Vilnius, participants observed how training sessions with pregnant women were conducted and how the training prepared women and helped them understand all stages of pregnancy and potential complications.
In spite of MOH plans to institutionalize Schools of Motherhood across Armenia and the national regulations regarding the organization and provision of antenatal and postnatal services, these schools and services barely exist outside of the capital city. Because of the MOH’s lack of resources to support the establishment of SoMs, the participants sought technical and financial support from their institutions and from USAID to establish SoMs in their hospitals. They joined the Prenatal Parenting School Working Group, initiated by Project NOVA, which later supported the SoM initiative within the NOVA project framework by conducting a refresher course for ten ob/gyns and midwives from the regions to enhance their capability to conduct birth preparedness classes.
Project NOVA also renovated and equipped a room in each of the Talin, Vayk, Sisian and Vedi hospitals of Aragatsotn, Vayots Dzor, Syunik and Ararat Regions to serve as an SoM, managed by the participants of the Lithuanian study tour. The SoMs were quickly popular among pregnant women who were eager to learn about their pregnancy and childbirth. Ob/gyns and midwives managing the SoMs conducted training sessions for their patients – differentiating the training based on the patients’ trimesters, their level of complications, their interest and availability to come to training. The doctors cover not only the cities, but the adjacent villages as well.
As part of five classes offered to pregnant women free of charge under the Government’s Basic Benefits Package, the SoMs provide psychosocial support, physical and psychological preparedness for childbirth, information on the delivery process and its stages, and information on the importance of a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Topics include lifestyle and its affect on pregnancy, overcoming delivery-related fears, breastfeeding, and newborn care. Future fathers are highly encouraged to participate in the classes in order to better understand pregnancy and childbirth and be supportive of their spouses.
All doctors and managers of the SoMs use brochures, information bulletins, video, audio and other support materials brought from Lithuania, provided by NOVA Project, and developed under the USAID/PTP Project by the Ministry of Health and AED.
In order to make the SoM more appealing and attractive for the mothers-to-be, Project NOVA organized a children’s artwork competition called “Happy Family in My Imagination.” The best paintings are now posted on the walls of all four newly-established SoMs.
Publication Date: 2008-12-13
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