Charity: A health volunteer success story

Results from Ending Eclampsia’s landscape analysis of seven states in Nigeria served as the catalyst for a training with Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) in Nigeria. Researchers conducted observations of client–provider interactions during antenatal care (ANC) visits and assessed healthcare providers’ knowledge of proven risk factors for pre-eclampsia, including chronic hypertension, previous history of PE/E, obesity, pre-existing diabetes or diabetes in pregnancy, advanced maternal age, sickle cell diseases, and connective tissue diseases. The training’s objective was to teach CHEWs how ANC providers can prevent pregnancy-related complications like pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E). Following the training the CHEWs felt that they can now encourage expectant mothers to ask ANC providers about their pregnancy and childbirth, and request specific PE/E-related detection and prevention services