Coaching Helps a Remote Health Center Launch a New Maternity Ward and Draw More Clients

Coaching Helps a Remote Health Center Launch a New Maternity Ward and Draw More Clients

The Ouoré health center is an isolated facility in the commune of Kérou, department of Atacora, in Benin. Based on the volume of services provided by the health center, Ouoré received funding to build a new maternity ward from the Fond d’Appui au Développement des Communes (FaDeC) in 2017. Administered by the Government of Benin, FaDeC is a fund allocated to communes to fund community health activities. Although the maternity ward was completed in 2018, the nurses did not receive any guidance on how to get this new area of the health center up and running. As of March 2019, the maternity ward had yet to welcome any clients. In April 2019, the situation changed when a team from the USAID-funded Integrated Health Services Activity (IHSA) visited the isolated health center to assess skills gaps and provide coaching to the nurse and nursing assistant.