Mothers At Risk

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Cairo, Egypt

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Promoting health education, literacy and safe deliveries in urban slums

Background

Thanks to a comprehensive national safe motherhood program, fewer Egyptian women die of maternal causes today than ever before, and access to prenatal care and emergency obstetric care has grown exponentially. But in Cairo’s approximately 40 slum areas, poverty, severe pollution, faulty sanitation and sewerage, inadequate hygiene and ubiquitous violence make life particularly hazardous for pregnant women and mothers with infants. Many of these women lack general health awareness and often deliver with untrained, illiterate traditional birth attendants (called "dayas") who work outside the formal health system, with inherent risks to mother and baby.

Our Local Partner

The Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women (ADEW) supports women living in the poorest urban and peri-urban slums throughout Egypt, in particular women heads of household. ADEW's initiatives include micro-credit lending, legal aid and advocacy, literacy promotion for women and girls, and health services.

Our Project

MATERNAL HEALTH EDUCATION AND LITERACY

Mothers at Risk and ADEW recently surveyed hundreds of mothers and scores of dayas in two of Cairo’s largest slums, Manshiet Nasser and Masr El Quadima.

Roughly half of the mothers surveyed are illiterate and have very limited awareness of general health issues, including hygiene, nutrition, maternal and reproductive health and child care. Female genital mutilation is widespread and domestic violence is prevalent.

In response, Mothers at Risk and ADEW will be collaborating in two programs:

© ADEW
Tomorrow's Mothers Program is based on the known link between education and maternal health. We believe that an investment in literacy, education and health awareness of girls today will translate into healthier mothers and healthier babies in the future. Mothers at Risk is supporting 9-month-long courses for young girls in the slums, most of who have either dropped out of school or have never been to school and are overburdened with household work. The course, which is taught to a group of 20 girls, focuses on literacy, self-esteem, and health education and awareness.
Mothers' Dreams Program: is focused on health education for pregnant women and new mothers, as well as literacy, in promoting a stake for the women in improving their community. The 4-month course includes literacy, health awareness, hygiene, nutrition, infant care and reproductive health issues. It also includes a grant for a group of mothers graduating from this program to launch an initiative to enhance their neighborhood.

SAFE DELIVERIES

Our survey shows that women in the slums prefer to deliver with dayas because of their convenience, accessibility, personalized care, and affordability. In addition to deliveries, dayas are also trusted members of the community who provide advice on a wide variety of issues of direct relevance to women. Dayas refer women to health clinics for prenatal checks, encourage breastfeeding, healthy nutrition for mother and baby, and visit the women periodically after delivery.

Notwithstanding these positive attributes, our survey indicates that dayas may, by commission or omission, put mother and baby at risk, due to their lack of training to handle unexpected complications and inadequate hygiene. There is little contact between dayas and doctors and considerable mutual mistrust.

Mothers at Risk and ADEW will be sharing the results of the survey with public health officials and medical professionals, and will jointly devise a program to promote an increase in overall health awareness among women in the slums and deliveries at health centers. We believe these goals can be achieved in part by promoting new, officially-sanctioned roles for the dayas in community health promotion and in advocacy for institutional deliveries.

To read ADEW's description of the Manshiet Nasser and Masr Quadima slums, click here.

Click here to support mothers in the Cairo slums.