Women and girls are the most vulnerable to ill health in Africa because of contributing factors that include gender inequity, poverty, and sexual and gender-based violence. Amref Health Africa works to ensure that women everywhere can access the health services they need and that young girls can grow up healthy, educated and empowered.

Complications during pregnancy can prove to be fatal to women, especially those who live in rural and pastoral communities across the continent. Every year, nearly 200,000 women who live in underdeveloped communities die from complications that are preventable.

Over 80% of these deaths could be prevented with the availability of hands-on services that trained midwives can offer pregnant women. We train midwives to offer educational services on reproductive rights and family planning to women and their partners so that they can make more informed choices about their reproductive health.

We use diverse methods to train midwives and other skilled health workers, including traditional classroom-based teaching, and innovative methods such as e-Learning and m-Learning, which delivers training programs using basic mobile phone technology. A skilled midwife can provide care and health education to 500 mothers annually.