Photo: Lydia’s Memorial Maternity Home and Clinic in the Western Region

In recognition of International Women’s Day, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Saving Maternity Homes in Ghana, Innovate for Health (SMH) project, led by Banyan Global in conjunction with the Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA), has launched a crowdfunding campaign in support of rural private sector midwives. The campaign, titled “Supporting Ghana’s Midwives: Strengthening Maternal and Child Health in Rural Ghana,” aims to raise $3,500 dollars to enable the GRMA to conduct approximately fifteen peer support visits.

Currently only one out of every ten women in these rural areas have access to emergency care during and after their pregnancy, contributing to the high maternal mortality rates in Ghana. Where government hospitals and large clinics are not available, the only medical lifeline for millions of pregnant women is the independent maternity home and midwife. However, midwives in rural regions often lack access to the latest updates on clinical practices and the supportive supervision that they need.

St. Elizabeth’s Maternity Home and Clinic in Brong Ahafo Region

In an effort to address this issue, GRMA provides peer support visits, a critical form of supportive supervision involving one-on-one technical assistance to private maternity homes in rural areas. While occasional funding from foundations or donors has enabled the GRMA to offer these visits from time to time, resource constraints have prevented the association from maintaining this practice regularly. While this initial campaign has set a modest fundraising target, the SMH project plans to work with the GRMA to build its capacity to conduct crowdfunding campaigns as an ongoing and regular source of revenue, contributing to its overall financial sustainability.

Please join us in celebrating International Women’s Day and strengthening maternal child health care in Ghana by supporting this effort. Please click here to learn more: http://supportingghanamidwives.causevox.com/