Family Health Houses for Afghanistan

The goal of this project is to improve the health services available to women in Afghanistan. The project maintains the operational activities of the 58 already established family health houses in Daikundi province and establishes 115 new family health houses. Each house has a delivery room and an examination room in which a trained community midwife can safely work. The communities choose the location for the houses and are responsible for building them. The project also establishes a referral system for women and babies who require emergency care, women with high-risk pregnancies, and women who require delivery and recovery care beyond the basic care provided at the family health houses. The houses also receive support from mobile health teams from existing health facilities that bring supplies and provide supervision and mentoring for the midwives. Some project activities include: (1) training the midwives and equipping each family health house with the diagnostic and medical equipment required to ensure safe childbirth; and (2) setting up telecommunication and transport services between facilities to assist with the referrals.