Kal de Juna

With its Nigerien partner organizations GRADE Africa and the Midwives Association of Niger, OASIS is working to improve maternal and child health and increase uptake of postpartum family planning across the Sahel — through an innovative approach to prenatal and postnatal care piloted in Maradi, Niger. Women in the intervention build supportive relationships with peers and providers while receiving care along with other women of similar gestational age.. Each two-hour session engages women in an enjoyable and educational experience using a curriculum informed by local concepts, songs and topics of interest. Prior to delivery, women are informed about birth spacing options, and those who are interested can obtain a contraceptive method at the time of delivery. After delivery, new mothers attend group postnatal appointments with their infants, where they learn more about infant care, breastfeeding and family planning, and are offered a range of contraceptive methods. Group care, coupled with postpartum and well-baby visits, makes prenatal and postnatal care convenient and appealing to younger women. The program seeks to improve:

• Prenatal care attendance (measuring proportion of women attending 3 or 4 visits) 

• Proportion of deliveries taking place within health facilities

• Early detection of danger signs during pregnancy 

• Postpartum family planning uptake

• Infant immunization rates