A Pilot Study
for the Development and Early Assessment of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbooks in Bangladesh
-For Upgrading the Quality of MCH Services
Dr. Shafi Ullah Bhuiyan, MBBS; MPH, PhD
Osaka
University, Japan
The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Handbook can be considered as one of the best community-level material, which can promote reproductive health and improve
maternal and child health status in developing countries. Experiences in many developed countries and developing countries
show that the MCH Handbook has many benefits (2nd International Symposium on MCH handbook, Manado, Indonesia,
2001). Generally, it serves as a basic tool for mother and child health care and specifically it can perform one or more of
the following functions, a) information and education material for health education, b) information on the continuity of mother
and child health care, c) communication tool between health service providers and pregnant mothers, and d) as document for
mother and child health records. In Bangladesh, the focus of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services is to increase quality and quantity
at all levels. Some of the recent strategies include: improving the skills of providers and promoting user-friendly or women
friendly health services, to name a few. Many strategies have been adopted and developed to improve the MCH conditions of
the country. However, the country has yet to develop its own MCH Handbook. Hence, this pilot study-
This pilot study will be prepared using experiences from both developed and developing countries. It will be introduced
at the Maternal and Child Health Training Institute (MCHTI) Dhaka. This proposed MCH Handbook will be developed using a two-way communication model, and
its focus will be total wellness rather than simply medical improvement. The proposed MCH Handbook language will be both Bangla
and English with some illustrations. The guidelines in developing this tool will be utilize the problem-oriented approach
and will involve generally the recommendations of end-users as specific as possible to ensure that it will contribute significantly
to the improvement of MCH services at MCHTI in Bangladesh.
Aim
of the Study-
Development of MCH
Handbook for Sustainable quality MCH services at Maternal and Child Health Training Institute (MCHTI) Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
General
objective-
To improve overall wellness and health status of mother and child who are using of the services of MCHTI, Dhaka
Specific
objectives-
1. To provide health
information & health education to patients, parents or to their families for essential MCH knowledge
2.To increase utilization
of health facilities for safe delivery
3.To improve communication
between service provider and patient
4.To maintain health
records of mother & child throughout the pregnancy, delivery, immunization, growth chart and for the self care of high-risk
pregnant mothers.
Methodology-
A. Focus Group discussion (FGD)
B. Interview and Observation study C. Providers Training and Intervention D. Providers -Client exit Interview with questionnaire
E. Data Collection and Computerized Qualitative and Quantitative data analysis F. Result and Discussions G. Recommendations.
Study site and population-
Maternal
and Child Health Training Institute (MCHTI) Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Mother and Child Patient at MCHTI during the period of November 2002 to December
2002 were the study population.
Study sample for distribution of MCH handbook-
Random
sampling will be carried out for the MCH handbooks distribution (Daily 24, out of daily total 200 out patients) and total
240 MCH handbooks were distributed after interview and Interview sample were 600 persons while 240 were case and 360 were
control sample.
Expected Outcome-
1. Increased mothers and
community Knowledge, awareness & participations
2.Improved providers accountability for patient care
3.Increased quality cares for mother and child health
4.Increased antenatal care (ANC) in terms of visit and number of women
5.Increased delivery at institution
6.Increased post natal care (PNC)
7.Increased family planning (FP) acceptance by clients
8.Increased level of nutritional knowledge of clients
9.Client follow up and client record system initiated.
