Survey on maternal health launched in Suddhodhan Rural Municipality

Suddhodhan Rural Municipality of Kapilvastu district and HERD International have launched a survey on maternal health status to inform evidence-based maternal health policy and program in the rural municipality.

Prior to implementing the survey, training was delivered to 13 field researchers on 17-20 July to equip them with skills and knowledge on data collection, interview techniques, and use of tablet.

The formal session of the training was facilitated by Asfak Ahmad Khan, Health Section Chief of Suddhodhan rural municipality and Shanti Bhandari, public health nurse from the Health Office, Kapilvastu. On the occasion, Shanti Bhandari provided an insightful session on the safe motherhood program of the Government of Nepal.

The Chairperson of Suddhodhan Rural Municipality, Kamlesh Sharan Chaudhary, expressed his commitment to create an enabling environment to implement Maternal Health Project in the rural municipality. He said that the evidence generated from the survey will help the rural municipality to take evidence-based decision.

Facilitators from HERD International guided the field researchers through each question in the survey tool, which comprehensively covers socio-economic characteristics, household rosters, pregnancy history, maternal care-seeking behavior, care-seeking decisions, violence, and the knowledge and practices of women and their husbands regarding maternal health.

The survey tool was adapted from the recent Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2022 to collect information on household characteristics, married women of reproductive age, recently delivered women, and their husbands’ characteristics.

The survey aims to capture 1,100 households and 300 recently delivered women through a systematic sampling approach.

The survey is part of ReBUILD for Resilience research program. ReBUILD for Resilience contributes to strengthening resilience and building stronger systems for health across multiple levels and sectors, with focus on equity, gender, disability, and social inclusion.