Background
Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are a major cause of death for women in Tanzania. Many of these deaths can be prevented if the health workers are equipped with the right knowledge and skills. Post-partum haemorrhage (excessive bleeding from the birth canal) is one of the main causes of maternal death, which can be prevented by using a method called active management of third stage labour (AMTSL). This method is based on a few simple steps and is widely recommended to prevent health complications for the mother. Despite evidence that this is a safe, simple and cost-effective method, AMTSL is only used in 7% of all deliveries in Tanzania.

About the project
This project was created to introduce active management of third stage of labour at Tumbi Regional Hospital and Kigamboni Health Centre. The project team trained 55 health care providers from the labour wards on how to provide AMTSL. As this was a pilot study, the training also emphasized the importance of documenting when AMTSL was used in a delivery, and the hospitals’ register forms were adapted so that the health workers could keep records of this.

Results
By the end of the project, active management of third stage labour was used in 98.8% of the deliveries at Tumbi Regional Hospital and Kigamboni Health Centre. Since then, national guidelines have been developed and implemented across the country and active management of third stage labour is now practiced in 33% of all deliveries in Tanzania, compared to 7% before this project.

Year: 2009