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Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health

A happy baby at health post for a check-up

A happy baby at a health post after receiving a check-up

USAID

Ethiopia has one of the world’s highest rates of maternal deaths and disabilities in the world. Women have a one-in-52 chance of dying from childbirth-related causes each year. Every year, more than 257,000 children under the age of five die and 120,000 die in the neonatal period. More than 60 percent of infant and 40 percent of under-five deaths in Ethiopia are neonatal deaths. We work with the Ethiopian government to reduce maternal, neonatal, and child mortality rates. We support integrated packages of evidence-based interventions delivered across a continuum of care at family, community and facility levels by increasing availability of services like skilled birth attendance and essential newborn care/treatment—especially to underserved populations.

Our achievements to benefit Ethiopian women and children include the expansion of proven interventions such as a comprehensive maternal health package through the health extension program; roll-out of basic obstetric and newborn care, essential newborn care, integrated management of neonatal and childhood illnesses, and integrated community case management of childhood illnesses including treatment of neonatal sepsis; and increased coverage of skilled birth attendance, immunizations, early identification, and care and treatment of sick children.

Activities include

Last Ten Kilometers through Advancing Partnership and Communities: Expand demand, access and use of interventions to improve maternal, newborn and child health outcomes. USAID’s support complements the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded activities to increase access to selected maternal, newborn and child health interventions including basic emergency obstetric and newborn care and scale up of integrated community based case management of childhood illnesses in selected zones of Oromia Region. In addition, L10K supports implementation of the Routine Immunization Improvement Plan in seven low performing zones in the country.
Newborns in Ethiopia Gaining Attention through the global Maternal Child Survival Program: Contributes to reductions of neonatal morbidity and mortality through capacity-building in high-impact services both at the community and the primary health care unit levels. The activity supports the Government of Ethiopia to: improve community maternal and newborn health practices and care-seeking behaviors; increases the provision of quality community-based newborn care services including management of newborn sepsis; and strengthens the supportive systems with a focus of woreda capacity building.