Antenatal Care Plan

Antenatal care plan provides antenatal care and delivery services to women in underdeveloped communities with as little as 500 naira (about $1) monthly deposits in hospitals across Kano state Nigeria. 

Antenatal care plan will partner with local network providers so the users can easily make deposits via their mobile phones, a mobile app will also be launched where women can have virtual antenatal care sessions and upload their data such as blood pressure and urine tests for evaluation. It targets vulnerable women who cannot afford antenatal care and delivery services for one reason or the other. The antenatal care plan will cover antenatal care and delivery services expenses in certified medical facilities across Kano state Nigeria, it will also provide essential deliver and puerperal commodities for the users, all for a monthly deposit of 500 naira (about $1).

According to statistics, one in seven global maternal deaths occur in Nigeria. That is more than 50,000 women dying per year in Nigeria. Kano state has an estimated maternal mortality of 576 in 100,000 live births (NDHIS 2013). While it is true that these alarmingly high death rates are caused by various factors, it can be said that inadequate access to and failure to attend antenatal care services plays an important role in these maternal deaths. Women fail to attend  antenatal care services for various reasons ranging from unavailability of good drugs and skilled health workers, poor attitude and unprofessional conduct of the health workers to financial and cultural barriers with the most common reason being financial struggles. As such these women are at higher risk of developing maternal diseases, other health problems and ultimately death from pregnancy and childbirth complications. 

Research has shown that many vulnerable women from underdeveloped communities across Kano state Nigeria do not have access to antenatal care, several factors contribute to this including loss of hope in the healthcare system, misconceptions about antenatal care, among others, however, it can be said that financial difficulties take the biggest blame. Most of these women have means of taking care of themselves are married to neglectful spouses who most times do not deem antenatal care or delivery services of a hospital necessary, hence, It is not surprising to find women who have given birth multiple times at home without going to the hospital, left at the mercy of unskilled traditional birth attendants, these women eventually face terrifying complications complications and diseases that mostly render them disable for life, facing stigma and tagged as disabilities to the society, or worse die at heartbreaking tender ages due to causes that could easily be prevented.

  It is no myth that failure to attend antenatal care visits multiplies the chances of developing maternal diseases and other health problems as sinister danger signs often go unnoticed or neglected, perhaps it is also fair to say that maternal mortality is strongly linked to poor antenatal care which in turn is mostly associated with poverty in these communities.

 Antenatal Care Plan aims to increase awareness and access to antenatal care across the low income communities of Kano state and ultimately, reduce the maternal morbidity and mortality rates of Kano state Nigeria. 

I am a fourth year medical student and I live in an underdeveloped community in Kano state amd every day I see young girls like me who are unable to afford antenatal care or are ridiculously prevented from going to the hospital by neglectful spouses end up with diseases, disabilities or worse untimely death. In fact, I have lost a dear friend or mine due to a similar scenario and it hurts to think of how she could have been alive today of only she had gotten better healthcare during delivery. 

Being a mother, I understand the fears of my fellow women in such conditions and I have interacted with quite a lot of them and I feel I can say all pregnant women wish to have healthy babies and be healthy as well, but the major challenge most of these women faced is lack of financial support, almost all the women I interviewed had little or no objection to my idea except a few who were somewhat suspicious or unsure. 

I am currently working on partnering with an organization for women right protection on the realization of my project. I am also partnering with the Gurunguwa ward councilor, Kumbotso Local government Kano state on my project. I am working with Professor Aisha Isma’il of political science department Bayero University Kano, Dr Hauwa Abdullahi, an obstetrician and gynecologist and Dr Ibrahim Musa a hematologist from Aminu Kano teaching hospital and Ahmed Tijjani a business analyst from Bayero University Kano.

My idea is still a concept but I am working hard to make it solid, I am making more research and consulting experts in related fields to make my dream a reality. 

Deposits will be made through local network providers or through mobile banking systems with as low as 500 naira, similar to other subscriptions such  as data, electric bills. An app will be launched where similar payments can be made and pregnant women can upload their data such as urine tests and physical assessments for evaluation by experts in obstetrics. 

The antenatal care plan will serve about 1000 to 1500 women over the course of next year and much more as it develops.

The antenatal care plan  impact goals are 

1) To reduce maternal morbidity and mortality by encouraging antenatal care. 

2) To eliminate misconceptions about antenatal care and give women chance to act in favor of their health. 

3) To reduce homebirth in presence of unskilled traditional birth attendants and encourage hospital deliveries.

The intended indicators for measuring the progress is antenatal care plan are number of women attending antenatal and maternal mortality rates of Kano state. An increase in any or both will show progress and success of the project.

The major obstacles for our project now are sociocultural barriers and inadequate financial resources.

Our team consists of four medical students, a computer science graduate, a student of international relations, two law students, a full time housewife and makeup artist and a nurse. Three or my team members are mother who understand the need of a pregnant woman having been through pregnancy ourselves, our experiences in addition to what we have observed over time in our communities shaped our opinions and pointed our attention to the need for an urgent action on antenatal care in Kano state. 

I had  a complicated pregnancy battling with a heart disease and was only able to pull through due to the care she received from her healthcare providers. This is what made me think of other women in similar situations who do not have access to antenatal care and I decided to do something about it, I called upon my friends and colleagues and together we pondered upon the issue and came up the antenatal care plan. 

Our teams comprises of youngsters from different fields aspiring to bring about a change in our communities and this I believe makes us a good team. Our society needs to be saved and we realize we cannot afford to fold our hands and do nothing, the little steps we take everyday encourage us to do more. 

Antenatal Care plan is currently seeking partnership with Kano Initiative for health and human development. 

My team works on solving maternal morbidity and mortality one of the most important health problems of Kano state Nigeria. I believe we are qualified for the Hp girls save the world prize and will like to be considered for it despite not being teenagers, the prize grant will help our team in establishing our project and extending our services to reach a broader audience. 

Our team is competent, reliable and hardworking. We believe we’re qualified for the pozen social innovation prize as our project in itself is a form of social entrepreneurship and the prize of the pozen social innovation prize will go a long way in helping our project advance.