The Nonlinear Library EA - Maternal Health Initiative - Marginal Funding & 1st Year in Review by Ben Williamson
Nov 15, 2023
18:50
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Maternal Health Initiative - Marginal Funding & 1st Year in Review, published by Ben Williamson on November 15, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
Introduction
The Maternal Health Initiative (MHI) works in northern Ghana delivering a light-touch programme of training integrating contraceptive counselling into routine care to increase informed choice and uptake of family planning methods. We deliver this work in partnership with two local NGOs and the Ghana Health Service, launching through the 2022 Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme.
This post was written by Sarah Eustis-Guthrie and Ben Williamson, MHI's co-founders. It is split into two parts:
A review of MHI's first year of operation - what we've done; the impact we've had; our plans for 2024
An overview of the marginal value of funding MHI - the funding needs for an organisation like MHI; the funding landscape for post-seed organisations; why we think donating to MHI is a particularly good bet (and why it might not be).
Part 1: MHI's First Year in Review
TL;DR
In our first year, we…
Developed and tested two evidence-based models of care with an
estimated cost-effectiveness of $100/DALY on health effects alone, competitive with
GiveWell's top charities
Trained providers at 18 facilities across 2 regions of Ghana, reaching an estimated 40,000 women over the next year
Conducted in-depth on-the-ground research, surveying 836 women and 148 providers & facility directors
Successfully increased the frequency of 1:1 family planning counselling by 4.3x at postnatal care and group family planning messaging by 8x at immunisation sessions, with results for shifts in contraceptive uptake due in December 2023.
We're currently awaiting the full results from our pilot. With strong results, we plan to scale our work through 2024 in partnership with the Ghana Health Service as we build towards government adoption of our model of care.
Who are MHI?
Maternal Health Initiative is an early-stage global health charity with a focus on healthcare worker training and access to family planning. MHI was born out of research conducted by Charity Entrepreneurship identifying postpartum (post-birth) family planning as among the most cost-effective and evidence-based approaches for improving global health.
Our team now includes Sofia Martinez Galvez as our Program Officer, Sulemana Hikimatu Tibangtaba as our Training Facilitator, and Enoch Weyori and Racheal Antwi as Project Officers through our local implementing partners,
Norsaac and
Savana Signatures.
What we do
We train midwives and nurses in the integration of two new models of family planning counselling developed by MHI into the standard check-ups mothers and their children receive in the months after giving birth.
In doing so, our work increases postpartum contraceptive uptake and decreases the frequency of short-spaced births. Pregnancies that occur less than two years apart are associated with a 32% higher rate of maternal mortality and 18% higher rate of infant mortality (
Conde-Agudelo 2007;
Kozuki 2013). Despite these risks, contraceptive use
drops by two-thirds in the early postpartum period.
Integrating high-quality counselling into routine care addresses multiple barriers to contraceptive uptake. First, mothers do not need to travel to a facility specifically for family planning. This means that they can receive confidential information and that they are spared the costs - both in time and money - of a separate visit.
Second, many women express significant concerns around side effects and health consequences from family planning. High-quality counselling ensures women receive counselling on multiple methods - helping to find a method that avoids the side effects they may be concerned about - while addressing the myths and misconceptions that can drive opposition to ...
Introduction
The Maternal Health Initiative (MHI) works in northern Ghana delivering a light-touch programme of training integrating contraceptive counselling into routine care to increase informed choice and uptake of family planning methods. We deliver this work in partnership with two local NGOs and the Ghana Health Service, launching through the 2022 Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme.
This post was written by Sarah Eustis-Guthrie and Ben Williamson, MHI's co-founders. It is split into two parts:
A review of MHI's first year of operation - what we've done; the impact we've had; our plans for 2024
An overview of the marginal value of funding MHI - the funding needs for an organisation like MHI; the funding landscape for post-seed organisations; why we think donating to MHI is a particularly good bet (and why it might not be).
Part 1: MHI's First Year in Review
TL;DR
In our first year, we…
Developed and tested two evidence-based models of care with an
estimated cost-effectiveness of $100/DALY on health effects alone, competitive with
GiveWell's top charities
Trained providers at 18 facilities across 2 regions of Ghana, reaching an estimated 40,000 women over the next year
Conducted in-depth on-the-ground research, surveying 836 women and 148 providers & facility directors
Successfully increased the frequency of 1:1 family planning counselling by 4.3x at postnatal care and group family planning messaging by 8x at immunisation sessions, with results for shifts in contraceptive uptake due in December 2023.
We're currently awaiting the full results from our pilot. With strong results, we plan to scale our work through 2024 in partnership with the Ghana Health Service as we build towards government adoption of our model of care.
Who are MHI?
Maternal Health Initiative is an early-stage global health charity with a focus on healthcare worker training and access to family planning. MHI was born out of research conducted by Charity Entrepreneurship identifying postpartum (post-birth) family planning as among the most cost-effective and evidence-based approaches for improving global health.
Our team now includes Sofia Martinez Galvez as our Program Officer, Sulemana Hikimatu Tibangtaba as our Training Facilitator, and Enoch Weyori and Racheal Antwi as Project Officers through our local implementing partners,
Norsaac and
Savana Signatures.
What we do
We train midwives and nurses in the integration of two new models of family planning counselling developed by MHI into the standard check-ups mothers and their children receive in the months after giving birth.
In doing so, our work increases postpartum contraceptive uptake and decreases the frequency of short-spaced births. Pregnancies that occur less than two years apart are associated with a 32% higher rate of maternal mortality and 18% higher rate of infant mortality (
Conde-Agudelo 2007;
Kozuki 2013). Despite these risks, contraceptive use
drops by two-thirds in the early postpartum period.
Integrating high-quality counselling into routine care addresses multiple barriers to contraceptive uptake. First, mothers do not need to travel to a facility specifically for family planning. This means that they can receive confidential information and that they are spared the costs - both in time and money - of a separate visit.
Second, many women express significant concerns around side effects and health consequences from family planning. High-quality counselling ensures women receive counselling on multiple methods - helping to find a method that avoids the side effects they may be concerned about - while addressing the myths and misconceptions that can drive opposition to ...