In South Sudan access to maternal and child health services is very limited: only 48% of pregnant women did at least one ante-natal visit and only 26% of these visits was carried out by skilled health personnel. Attended births by skilled birth attendants are only 10%. The South Sudanese Ministry of Health, with the technical advice from the World Health Organization, has developed a program of maternal and child health that includes training of midwives across the country. Unfortunately, the lack of trained personnel and the limited scope of the Ministry to meet wage costs make this perspective still very far away. It is estimated that it will take about 30 years before rural areas located in the north of the country will be served by these services. Traditional midwives are then considered a resource, in many cases the only one available, and they are informally accepted by the authorities.
The program that COSV implements aims at increasing access to the maternal and child health services existing in Ayod County and improving the technical skills of traditional midwives who work in the County .
Through the involvement of local authorities, community awareness campaigns and information services, information sessions organized by traditional midwives on issues related to reproductive age and maternal and child health and the organization of a training program for traditional midwives , we will improve maternal and child health services for women living in Ayod County rural areas.