FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 1998

Hopkins Helps "Mother Friendly Movement" in Indonesia

In Indonesia for every 100,000 live births an estimated 390-650 women die during pregnancy or childbirth. In the United States giving birth is up to 81 times safer—just eight mothers die during the same number of births. A major "Mother Friendly Movement" program to narrow this gap is now underway in Indonesia with the help of the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) and a grant of $748,000 from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

"According to the United Nations, each day some 1,600 women, many of them teenagers, die in pregnancy and childbirth. That is the equivalent of a death every minute," says Jose G. Rimon, Project Director at The Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, which provides technical assistance, training, and financial support to reproductive health organizations in more than 65 countries. "In Indonesia, we will use television and other mass media channels to link to local mobilization efforts to let women, men, youth, and families know about such risk factors as the danger signs in a pregnancy and the importance of getting pre- and post-natal care. We will also tell them where to go for treatment and services." A major focus of the project is overcoming the three delays which lead to maternal death: delay in decision to seek emergency care; delay in transporting women to an appropriate care facility; and delay in getting proper care at the facility.

Indonesia's State Ministry for the Role of Women is implementing the Mother Friendly Movement program. Over the past two years is has mobilized support from high-level policy makers, NGO's, and community groups. The government also has established a program to place 60,000 midwives in villages as the linchpin of the overall strategy to reduce maternal mortality.

In addition to using the mass media, the new 18-month communication project will continue advocacy efforts and help develop interpersonal communication materials and provide grants to communities for local initiatives. The project will focus on priority provinces where the potential impact is greatest, namely, South Sulawesi, East Java, and North Sumatra.

Many maternal deaths could be prevented by four health and nutrition interventions. These include:

• Improved access to basic health, family planning services, and adequate nutrition;
• Attendance at birth by either a skilled midwife or doctor;
• Essential obstetric care for complication and emergencies; and
• Post-natal and basic neonatal care.

These four essentials for safe motherhood could be provided for only about $3 per person per year in developing countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNFPA.

"The Indonesian campaign will also help save thousands of infants who otherwise might be stillborn or who might die in the first week of life from complications related to their mothers' pregnancy or during delivery," says Mr. Rimon. "Such deaths account for two thirds of all children who die each year under the age of five in developing countries."

For more information about the Indonesia project, contact Anne Palmer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202. Phone: 410 659-6300; Fax: 410 659-6266; E-mail: apalmer@Jhuccp.org.

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