New York/Cairo/Copenhagen, 24 November 2022 - Maternity Foundation and the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) have just launched an Arabic version of the widely used digital health tool, the Safe Delivery App, that empowers midwives and other healthcare workers to ensure safer births for women and newborns in low-resource settings.
“Having an Arabic version of the Safe Delivery App has long been a priority for the Maternity Foundation. I am so pleased that with the support from our partner, UNFPA, we have been finally able to make the App available in Arabic to thousands of healthcare workers involved in providing maternal and newborn care in the Arab region. These include those caring for vulnerable women and newborns in several countries affected by conflict and crisis in the region,” says Anna Frellsen, CEO of Maternity Foundation.
The development of the Arabic version was a highly collaborative process between Maternity Foundation, UNFPA and other partners including Johnson & Johnson and Médecins Sans Frontières, who generously contributed their resources and technical expertise. Input was also provided from healthcare workers from Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Syria who piloted the App and gave valuable feedback.
“In a region that is so rich culturally and, in many parts, economically as well, it is sad to see so much devastation caused by conflict and crises. I am totally delighted that after almost two years of hard work, the Arabic version of the App has now been launched. It will be most useful in helping midwives and other frontline health workers to provide quality care by updating their key concepts and knowledge on normal birth and key obstetric emergencies,” says Geeta Lal, Global Midwifery Programme Coordinator, UNFPA.
The Arab region faces specific contextual challenges in terms of maternal and newborn health, which vary significantly between countries. These have all been further impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is hoped that this new version of the Safe Delivery App will, in particular, empower healthcare workers in countries that experience higher rates of maternal and newborn death.
The new Arabic version is the newest version of Maternity Foundation’s Safe Delivery App, which is already available in English and French, in addition to 29 other national languages. To date, more than 270,000 health workers have downloaded the Safe Delivery App globally.
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More about the Safe Delivery App
The Safe Delivery App is a professional job aid and a digital training and learning tool for midwives and other healthcare workers. Maternity Foundation developed the App in collaboration with Copenhagen University, the University of Southern Denmark and other practising midwives. It was first launched in 2015 and today it is part of Maternity Foundation’s wider Safe Delivery+ programme; a digital, modular learning and training platform. The impact of the App has been proven through research and has been well documented in several studies and publications.
Links to the App
Safe Delivery – Apps i Google Play
Safe Delivery on the App Store (apple.com)
More about maternal mortality
Every other minute, a woman dies during pregnancy or birth. Every sixth second, a newborn suffers the same fate. Most of these deaths happen in low-resource settings, and the majority can be prevented if the women receive quality care from a skilled healthcare worker.
The maternal mortality rate is even higher during conflicts, war and crisis.
About UNFPA
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health and rights agency. Its mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
UNFPA supports reproductive healthcare including safe motherhood programmes in over 150 countries and is the lead United Nations agency supporting quality midwifery care globally. Its other programs range from family planning and contraceptive supplies to censuses and surveys and prevention and ending of harmful practices like gender-based violence, child marriage and female genital mutilation. UNFPA.org
About Maternity Foundation
Maternity Foundation started out as a smaller Danish organisation in 2005 working in western Ethiopia. Today, it is an international NGO with offices in Ethiopia, India, and Denmark and partner engagements in 15 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia.
Maternity Foundation works to ensure safer births for women and newborns by building midwifery knowledge and skills among healthcare workers in low-resource areas. It uses life-saving digital health solutions and innovative learning programmes. So far, Maternity Foundation has reached more than 300,000 healthcare workers, trained more than 14,000 and its services are used in more than 40 countries.
Contact for more information
Kate Williams, Head of Team – Safe Delivery Global Programme at Maternity Foundation (kate@maternity.dk)
Geeta Lal, Senior Technical Advisor and Global Midwifery Programme Coordinator at United Nations Population Fund (lal@unfpa.org)
