Over 3,000 healthcare providers trained on maternal, neonatal care
By Bushra Rafique

ISLAMABAD—Over 3,000 healthcare providers have been trained in essential maternal and neonatal care in 20 districts to deliver quality services to women and children, especially mothers and newborns.
According to official sources, newborn care reference manual and newborn care training guide have been developed to guide the healthcare workers for the health and survival of newborn infants.
Sources said the information and skills provided in the manual are essential for those caring for newborns in the first 28 days of life, whether community-based health workers, nurses, midwives, physicians etc..
According to them, the care of the newborn reference manual provides information and develops skills on essential care for newborn, breastfeeding, newborn resuscitation, care of low birth weight babies and other common newborn problems.
They said the Women Health Project and Save the Children have been working together to build healthcare providers’ capacity.
This close public-private partnership will result in improved skills of the healthcare providers and better healthcare services for mother and children all over the country, said Project Director, Women Health Project (WHP), Mrs. Shaheen Masud.
She said the health management information system is being strengthened to measure the performance of women health plans through women health indicators. She said Women Health Project is a multidimensional project launched with a number of health interventions at the federal, provincial and district level.
Trained human resources is key factor in ensuring quality health care, therefore the WHP paid equal attention to this aspect and arranged training for health care providers at all levels, she said. Shaheen Masud said the project contributed in expanding access to quality care by injecting additional resources in the ongoing activities of national preventive programs of Primary Health Care, Immunization, and Nutrition at federal level.
She said the WHP has arranged 17258 short term training, 100 mid term training (3-6 months) and about 1293 long term (1-2 years) training to the health care providers.
These training were arranged for health care providers of all categories and working at all levels. Moreover, the project arranged permanent campus for the Pakistan Nursing Council (the regulatory body for nursing) and strengthened nursing training institutions through supply of latest referral material and equipment etc..
Presently there is lack of integrated public health services at district level. To bridge this gap WHP initiated placement of Public Health Nurses (PHNs) at the project districts, she added.
Shaheen Masud said “We are working to strengthen the institutional and human resources capacity to improve women’s health by developing women friendly district health system.”
The overall goal of the project is to contribute in the reduction in high rate of maternal morality and morbidity and also infant morality and morbidity through improving the access to quality health services.