Communicating Safe Motherhood in Morocco

This document describes the development and implementation of the first communication strategy for safe motherhood in Morocco and its key interventions. It summarises the design and dissemination of materials, and includes material-specific survey results.

This maternal mortality prevention programme was an initiative of the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Division of the Moroccan Ministry of Health, and was carried out under the Morocco Family Planning/Maternal and Child Health Phase V Project, implemented by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in collaboration with John Snow, Inc. (JSI/Morocco) and its sub-contractor the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP). In brief, the programme developed for Morocco comprised two essential components. The first, improving women's emergency obstetric care, while the second component focused on building public awareness of the problem of maternal mortality and the means to prevent it.

The communication strategy, incorporating advocacy, provider motivation and public education activities, was implemented in two phases. The first phase concentrated on heightening policy-makers' awareness of the high level of maternal mortality in Morocco and enjoining their commitment to reduce maternal deaths. The second phase focused on helping women and their families recognise signs of complications during pregnancy and childbirth so they can better make timely decisions to seek care. The strategy comprised a variety of communication approaches, including an entertainment-education component wherein a play, Aide-Toi, le Ciel t'Aidera, toured major urban and rural areas with safe motherhood messages and a dramatic video, Bent Ettajer, was shown by mobile health units.

"The communication strategy has been essential to this effort. Through early advocacy activities, maternal mortality became a clear and undeniable priority in Morocco. Through media coverage, it became an increasingly high-visibility issue. Through provider motivation and training in emergency obstetric care, an increasing number of Moroccan women are gaining access to life-saving services. And through public education and outreach, women and their families are learning that an obstetric complication does not ordain death."

Table of Contents:

• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Executive Summary
• Project Introduction
• Communication Strategy
  • Reducing Maternal Mortality in Morocco
  • Phase 1 - Advocacy and Mobilization
  • Phase 2 - Interventions
• Communication Interventions
  • Galvanizing Policy-makers and Influential People
  • Motivating Health Providers
  • Reaching Out to Women and Their Families
• Sharing Across Borders
• Observations & Lessons
• Project Conclusion