MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics

The MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics project promotes awareness of, and equitable access to, safe surgery for women. The $40 million USAID-funded project will team up with local partners and country institutions to improve childbirth outcomes and better meet people’s voluntary family planning needs.

Much of CCP’s work on the project will use social and behavior change approaches to help improve trust and communication between health care providers and clients and to increase demand for appropriate obstetric services, while addressing stigma, misconceptions and social norms around those services.

The project will cover both the prevention and repair of obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that can severely damage a woman’s life due to stigma, and shame surrounding it. There will also be a focus on C-sections, both improving understanding about when the procedure is needed and when it is not and improving surgical skills to ensure safe surgery for women.

Fistula is most common in younger women, so some of the work will look at how to avoid fistula in the first place by preventing early marriage. When a woman suffers a fistula, she is often cast out from society. But she does have options, such as surgical repair, so the project will also work to help women understand their options and get the help they need.