Salma

Salma

Compared to my last two deliveries, this one was easier as I received proper care and recovered quickly.
– Salma

Salma didn’t know she was putting herself – and her children – at risk during her first two pregnancies. She delivered her babies at her home in a village in southeastern Pakistan, with the help of a traditional birth attendant, and suffered serious complications. But it wasn’t until she was pregnant with her third child, and she attended a community support meeting led by a CCP-trained community health worker, that she truly understood the dangers of giving birth outside a health facility.
The community health worker, part of Health Communication Component of USAID’s Maternal and Child Health program, also referred Salma to a nearby clinic, where not only did she receive a prenatal checkup, she also got information about its maternity services. She later gave birth there, instead of at home.
“Compared to my last two deliveries, this one was easier as I received proper care and recovered quickly,” 22-year-old Salma says.
Another benefit of delivering at the health facility: Access to family planning counseling and contraception. Before CCP, Salma says family planning was never discussed in her neighborhood. Now, she, for one, is singing its praises, speaking out about her experience and referring her neighbors for family planning services at the health facility.