MOMENTUM Moments
Check out these stories to learn about the transformative impact of MOMENTUM's work on individuals and communities.
Maternal and Newborn Health
Samaou Abdourhamane
Profession Obstetric Nurse
Location Gao, Mali
Mali’s Gao region is challenged with maternal and newborn mortality rates well above the national average. Samaou has dealt with this reality for the past six years as part of her job at the Forgho Community Health Center.
Samaou Abdourhamane
Profession Obstetric Nurse
Location Gao, Mali
Samaou received practical training from MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience on the WHO’s Safe Childbirth Checklist. Samaou systematically used the Checklist to carry out 60 deliveries from December 2022 to February 2023, which gave her the tools to care for 10 women in need during labor and refer three cases for further care at the district health center.
Samaou says, “The most important positive change that the Checklist has made in my daily practice includes the tracking of inventory and the availability of essential drugs that can be used in urgent situations during or just after childbirth.”
Aubrey Bester
Age Two weeks
Location Sazikani Village, Southern Malawi
Just a few weeks after he was born, Aubrey developed a high fever and was breathing very quickly, which are both dangerous signs for a baby his age. A community midwifery assistant, who stopped by Aubrey’s home for a routine visit for new mothers and their infants, learned about these danger signs just a few days before at a training co-led by MOMENTUM Tiyeni. They advised Aubrey’s mother, Violet, to take him to a hospital immediately.
Aubrey Bester
Age Two weeks
Location Sazikani Village, Southern Malawi
At the district hospital, Aubrey was diagnosed with neonatal sepsis. He was treated, observed, and discharged with mediation. Three months later, Aubrey is a bubbly, smiling, and healthy child!
Juliana Brient
Profession Midwife
Location Essipon, Ghana
When a woman delivers in her community, Juliana will likely know her name, where she lives, and how she is faring. But when the COVID-19 pandemic began, Juliana and her team faced the challenge of maintaining essential health services for expecting mothers.
Juliana Brient
Profession Midwife
Location Essipon, Ghana
Juliana attended a three-month virtual training organized by MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership and the Ghana Health Service, where she and 43 other midwives learned how to maintain essential primary health services during the pandemic. Thanks to this training and the brave service of Juliana’s team, 12 women delivered successfully at the Essipon Health Center in January and February 2021, the peak of the pandemic.
Dr. Anuradha Pichumani
Profession Obstetrician-gynecologist
Location Tamil Nadu, India
Understanding and including context is key to improving health care in any setting. Dr. Anuradha was determined to understand the unique context of each facility she was supporting with the rollout of the WHO’s Safe Childbirth checklist.
Dr. Anuradha Pichumani
Profession Obstetrician-gynecologist
Location Tamil Nadu, India
Dr. Anuradha used the Context Assessment Toolkit, revised by MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator, to help health practitioners at nine hospitals understand and adjust for the context in which an intervention is implemented. With this context-specific support, the project reported 97% sustainability of the checklist, a vast improvement from previous implementation efforts.
Uwiringiyimana Marie Assumpta
Profession District Mentor, Rukoma Sake Health Center
Location Ngoma district, Eastern Rwanda
Marie Assumpta works with MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics to monitor active follow-up of women with a history of cesareans, who are at a higher risk of pregnancy complications. Marie Assumpta called Yvette, an expecting mother of three in her district who has had previous cesarean sections, to see how she was doing and if she had contacted the hospital for a delivery plan. Yvette said she was at home and was starting to feel abdominal pains.
Uwiringiyimana Marie Assumpta
Profession District Mentor, Rukoma Sake Health Center
Location Ngoma district, Eastern Rwanda
Marie Assumpta immediately called the head of the health center and a community health worker to arrange to bring Yvette to the health center. Yvette delivered a healthy 7.2 pound baby boy through cesarean section.
Right: Yvette holds her newborn baby boy.
Voluntary Family Planning and Reproductive Health
Eliza Abasi
Profession Interpersonal Communication Agent
Location Makawa, Malawi
As an interpersonal communication (IPC) agent, 25-year-old Eliza’s goal is to encourage people in her community to access voluntary, integrated family planning services provided by mobile outreach teams in remote areas of the district. However, Eliza felt uncomfortable approaching people about family planning and reproductive health issues.
Eliza Abasi
Profession Interpersonal Communication Agent
Location Makawa, Malawi
Eliza participated in an IPC refresher training offered by MOMENTUM Private Healthcare Delivery, where she increased her knowledge about sexual and reproductive health topics and built her public speaking skills. Since the training, Eliza has more than doubled the number of clients she brings to mobile outreach clinics.
Rahinatu Mahama
Profession Senior Midwife Officer
Location Kanvilli, Northern Ghana
Rahinatu has been a midwife for more than nine years and has delivered countless babies. She is a strong promoter of postpartum family planning, counseling the families she cares for on the importance of planning and taking control of their reproductive health. Unfortunately, many women and families in Kanvilli don’t access family planning due to common misconceptions, like the belief that family planning can cause infertility.
Rahinatu Mahama
Profession Senior Midwife Officer
Location Kanvilli, Northern Ghana
Watch this video to learn how MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership helped Rahinatu dispel misconceptions about family planning in Kanvilli.
Archana Neupane
Profession Co-owner, Neupane Medical Hall
Location Bardibas Municipality, Madhesh Province, Nepal
In Archana’s community, adolescents cannot openly seek support and information on contraceptive services. Despite being aware that adolescents can’t openly seek contraception, Archana was not equipped with the skills necessary to support their needs.
Archana Neupane
Profession Co-owner, Neupane Medical Hall
Location Bardibas Municipality, Madhesh Province, Nepal
Archana and 100 other private health providers participated in a MOMENTUM Private Healthcare Delivery-led training on adolescent sexual and reproductive health. The knowledge and skills Archana gained from this training have helped her counsel young people like 20-year-old Madhu, who came to the pharmacy for information and family planning and reproductive health.
Gender-based Violence
Toshila Tirkey
Profession Community Health Worker
Location Hurhuri Panchayat, Jharkhand, India
In Toshila’s small village, gender-based violence (GBV) is quite common due to factors like harmful gender norms, alcoholism, and early marriage. Toshila wanted to help women in her village, but didn’t know how.
Toshila Tirkey
Profession Community Health Worker
Location Hurhuri Panchayat, Jharkhand, India
Toshila attended a training about GBV prevention led by MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics. She began sharing what she learned at different forums throughout her village, empowering her fellow community members to help themselves and stand up for each other. Through August 2023, MOMENTUM trained over 78,000 community health workers on GBV prevention, referral, and response.
Immunization
Charity Kenyani Akoyi
Profession Nurse
Location Luanda, Vihiga County, Kenya
In the second half of 2021, Charity noticed that there was a significant decrease in the number of fully vaccinated children in her facility’s catchment area in Vihiga County. Charity and her coworkers were facing a multitude of challenges in vaccinating children: community leaders were not engaged in immunization efforts and community vaccination sessions were poorly attended.
Charity Kenyani Akoyi
Profession Nurse
Location Luanda, Vihiga County, Kenya
MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity convened a training for health workers in Vihiga County. At the training, Charity learned to involve community leaders in vaccination outreach planning and built her capacity to micro-plan and set targets to identify and reach priority communities. By June 2022, the rate of under-immunized children (those who did not complete their three-dose DTP vaccine series) decreased from 20 percent to 4 percent, and the rate of children who received their second dose of the MCV vaccine increased from 3 percent to 16 percent.