Support to the Increasing Demand for Childbirth Health Services

This project aims to improve the health of women and newborns in Zambezia province the second most populous province with some of the worst health indicators in Mozambique. Typically strategies to increase the number of women giving birth in health care facilities and the number of pregnant women using health services focus on increasing the number of facilities or the numbers of health workers. This pilot project uses an innovative voucher scheme which offsets transportation and other costs to provide incentives to encourage pregnant women to seek health care attention during pregnancy and childbirth as well as for their newborns. The project aims to help 100 000 women receive pre-natal care safe delivery and post-natal care services in participating government health facilities.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (i) increased use of appropriate health care services by women during pregnancy and childbirth as well as for their newborns in selected districts of Zambezia; (ii) improved quality and gender sensitivity of maternal newborn and child health services at public health facilities in selected districts of Zambezia; and (iii) increased use of evidence to plan and manage maternal newborn and child health services in Mozambique.