Working together to save mothers and babies in Sulawesi

Ratna with her son Ralvin at the local health centre in Galesong

©UNICEF Indonesia/2014/Ramadana

GALESONG, South Sulawesi, August 2014 - It was ten o’clock at night when Ratna Adam started to feel labour pains. She was at home in the seaside village of Galesong, Takalar District in South Sulawesi. Her fisherman husband was away working in Kalimantan, so the first person she called was Basse Cama, a Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA).

Ibu Basse has been helping women in Galesong give birth for 33 years and is a respected member of the community. She lives about a five minute walk from Ratna, so she hurried over to help the expectant mother.

Giving Klaten’s babies a nutritious start in life

By Anup Tiwari, Chief, Private Fundraising and Partnerships, UNICEF Indonesia

Pandes Village, Central Java, Indonesia, May 2014 - As the Chief of private fundraising and partnerships in UNICEF Indonesia's Jakarta office, I spend a lot of my time in office buildings - at my desk, in meetings or on the phone. But in early May, I found myself cross-legged on the floor of a huge bamboo building in Pandes village, Central Java, watching a group of expectant mothers play a fishing game.

I’d come with several colleagues to see one of UNICEF’s programmes in action. With the Government of Indonesia, we’ve helped to train a local midwife and several volunteers, known as cadres, to teach women about good nutrition both during pregnancy and after their baby is born. The cadres also work with fathers and older members of the community so that they can best support these new mothers.

SMS project improves midwives’ counseling competencies in Indonesia

The first Info Bidan Message broadcasted to the midwives which explains about the risks of not doing birth spacing. Lombok, 18 July 2012.

Jakarta, September 2013 - Midwives are at the forefront of health care in Indonesia and they play a critical role in communicating key messages on safe pregnancy, delivery and child health to pregnant women and their families. Many midwives however, especially in rural and remote areas, are inadequately trained and lack the necessary knowledge and expertise to provide quality counseling.

Through an SMS-based pilot project called Info Bidan (Information for Midwives) UNICEF engaged in innovative ways of strengthening the capacities of midwives in rural areas. The results have been positive and UNICEF is now in discussion with the Ministry of Health and other partners on how best to introduce the model as a training tool for all 100,000 midwives in Indonesia.