How World Vision is saving lives in Afghanistan

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Roqaia, 23, lives in a remote part of Herat province. She lost her first five babies in part due to a lack of awareness regarding the importance of Antenatal Care (ANC) services. In response to high infant mortality rates and the absence of ANC, World Vision set up Family Health Action Groups (FHAGs) in Roqaia’s village to promote health and nutrition best practices for women and children under five. Roqaia has since given birth to a healthy baby, Yonos, who is now six months old.

“The first two of my children were born premature, they died after two days,” she says. “The three others were aborted and I didn’t know the reason then.”

During her pregnancy, Roqaia had not visited a midwife or gone to a clinic for ANC services. She had no knowledge about the importance of vaccinations during pregnancy. “No one told me about visiting a doctor when I was pregnant,” she says.

[I was also] afraid that my husband would remarry if I couldn’t bear a child for him.”

She was disappointed and thought she would never have a baby. “I was worried. When I saw my relatives and neighbours having babies I wondered why I couldn’t…[I was also] afraid that my husband would remarry if I couldn’t bear a child for him.”

 Improving maternal health care

World Vision Afghanistan, through a fund from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), set up 36 FHAGs with the participation of 401 female members in remote areas of Herat, Ghor and Badghis provinces last year. Using the Timed and Targeted Counseling (TTC) approach, the FHAGs are prepared to offer life-saving maternal health advice to women in the community.

According to Dr. Alami, World Vision Afghanistan’s Nutrition Supervisor, “We have trained FHAG members on various maternal health issues such as Timed and Targeted Counseling. Now, the trained FHAG [staff] are able to provide key health and nutrition promotion messages at the most effective times for mothers and their children.”

Project staff went to Roqaia’s village to select interested women as members of an FHAG. Roqaia’s mother-in-law, Najiba, 50, was eager to volunteer. “I thought somehow I could help Roqaia to have a baby and then to help the other women like her in my village,” she says.

"I now know I was wrong.”

After Najiba had attended the trainings she started providing health counseling, first to Roqaia, and then to other women in the community. The topics and discussions in the trainings gave her the opportunity to understand where she had gone wrong during her daughter-in-law’s earlier pregnancies. “Before the training, I told Roqaia to give birth as often as she could, so that at least one of the babies might survive. I now know I was wrong.”

Najiba says that she encourages all pregnant women in the villages to visit a doctor, as well as to give birth in a clinic - something she regrets not allowing Roqaia to do during her past pregnancies. “Instead I requested [the services of] an older woman to help deliver the baby. I didn’t know [any better]. This is what I had learned from my mother-in-law.”

Diana Ceci, World Vision Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, reports that the “TTC model in our targeted areas has helped to significantly increase the number of women receiving ANC and PNC visits compared to previous years, and [also increase the number of] women whose delivery was attended by a skilled birth attendant compared to last year.”  

Why she lost her babies

Using the knowledge she gained from the trainings, Najiba advised Roqaia to avoid pregnancy for one year and to eat nutritional foods as well as increase her rest. She also goes house to house providing health consultations for pregnant women as well as mothers with children under the age of five.

Roqaia knows now whey she lost her babies. “I didn’t eat proper food, I didn’t have enough rest, I didn’t visit a midwife and I didn’t get the necessary vaccinations,” she explains. “But now I am grateful that my baby is alive, strong and well.” With a kiss for Yonos she adds, “I don’t know how to thank [the people from World Vision], but I will keep you in my prayers.”