Funding Area: Health
One Heart Worldwide was founded in 1998 as a maternal and neonatal healthcare (MNH) project in the Tibetan Autonomous Region through the University of Utah and opened a base of operations in Nepal in 2010. We have since scaled from two pilot districts to improving access to quality MNH care for over 1.5 million pregnant women and their infants in 32 Nepali districts. External evaluations have found that our work, in collaboration with the Nepali Government, has led to substantially accelerated progress towards helping Nepal achieve its SDGs for MMR and neonatal mortality rate (NMR).
Our mission is to make pregnancy and childbirth safer for all. We envision a locally-led health system that reaches all women and their children, with an emphasis on those living in last-mile environments. Our model is designed to address the systemic barriers to care faced by underserved populations. By partnering directly with the Nepali government and local stakeholders, we support their capacity to design and maintain an effective continuum of care based on their local context.
Projects We Support
Simulation-Based Mentorship Training for Birth Attendants in Rural Nepal
One of the main issues contributing to Nepal’s NMR and MMR is the poor quality of training that healthcare providers, including Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs), receive. To better address the training needs of maternal and neonatal healthcare (MNH) service providers and improve the quality of essential obstetric and newborn care services in rural Nepal, OHW has developed, piloted, and implemented a simulation-based mentorship program (SBMP), the first of its kind in Nepal, to train SBAs and other MNH providers on lifesaving techniques and skills. Trainees practice clinical skills on high-fidelity medical manikins that simulate pregnant, delivering, and breastfeeding women and infants. This approach improves skills retention by providing experience in real-world scenarios.
As part of our Network of Safety implementation in Humla, we seek to train a number of SBAs and other MNH service providers using the simulation-based methodology via the SBMP. We are currently in the process of training eight “Master Trainers”, the clinical mentors who will be in charge of training up to 72 healthcare providers across several rural birthing centers and the larger district hospitals. We will then set up three simulation training labs at larger “hub” sites, where healthcare providers from around the district will travel to attend training sessions. We are also currently conducting a needs assessment with our municipal partners in Humla to see where we can establish smaller “spoke” training sites, which will be furnished with manikins so that trainees can practice neonatal resuscitation, an essential life saving skill for infants experiencing birth asphyxia. We currently estimate that we will set up six such “spoke” sites.
Support Dates: March, 2025 – Ongoing
Organization and Project Photos
Note: This information was provided by One Heart Worldwide.
These photos are © Copyright by One Heart Worldwide. All rights reserved.
