BackgroundIn 2012, we launched the Merck for Mothers Global Giving Program – a corporate grants program that enables Merck offices around the world to support nongovernmental organizations that are improving maternal health. The program is designed to be responsive to local women’s needs and is extending our reach to many more countries across the globe.

With over 50 unique and diverse projects around the world, the Global Giving Program is:

• Improving maternal health in local markets

• Engaging Merck offices in Merck for Mothers

• Providing seed funding to test innovative approaches

Merck for Mothers is our 10-year, $500 million global initiative to end preventable maternal deaths. We are bringing Merck’s scientific and business expertise to the challenge of creating a world where no woman dies giving life.

MERCK FOR MOTHERS GLOBAL GIVING PROGRAM

30+COUNTRIES PARTNERS

40+MERCK OFFICES

30+The Global Giving Program has supported projects in over 30 countries, from Argentina to Vietnam. Merck offices have sponsored projects in their own countries as well as in countries with great need, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Every region has participated, with distinctive approaches appropriate for the context:

In Europe, we support maternal health organizations that link vulnerable pregnant women to care and raise awareness of safe motherhood practices, both in Europe and developing countries.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, our partners strengthen the capacity of health workers and educate communities about reproductive and maternal health.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, we support an array of programs that improve access to antenatal care and family planning for women and adolescents and strengthen health providers’ skills.

In Southeast Asia, our partners promote safe birth practices, strengthen midwifery education, improve access to family planning, and promote health-seeking behaviors through workplace programs.

Geographical Reach

Overcoming the Distance Challenge in Zambia: The Maternity Waiting Homes Alliance GeoGraphic areas: 8 districts across Zambia (Lundazi, Mansa, Chembe, Kalomo, Nyimba, Pemba, Zimba, and Choma)

scale: 24 maternity waiting homes linked to high quality health facilities

timeframe: June 2015 – May 2018

In Zambia, many women live miles from the closest health facility with few, if any, affordable and safe transportation options, making it difficult for them to receive the quality, timely care they need during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. The Maternity Waiting Homes Alliance aims to overcome this distance challenge by building and strengthening maternity waiting homes — residences near health facilities where pregnant women can stay until they go into labor and immediately after childbirth. The goal is to make these homes sustainable by empowering local communities to both effectively manage them and generate income to support their operations through creative entrepreneurial activities, therefore ensuring the homes and the services they provide are available for the long term.

Laying the foundation for financial sustainability

The partners are exploring a variety of community-driven, income generating activities to provide a consistent source of revenue to ensure the long-term sustainability of the homes.

Building evidence for scale upThe Alliance will conduct a robust impact

evaluation to help determine whether maternity waiting homes can be both an effective and sustainable solution to overcoming the distance barrier to high quality care for women from remote areas. The evaluation will produce actionable findings to inform efforts to scale up maternity waiting homes in Zambia and beyond.

Quality care before, during and after deliveryEach home is located near a quality health facility

equipped to manage life-threatening emergencies that can arise during pregnancy or childbirth. The homes offer a range of educational resources and income generating activities for pregnant women to participate in during their stay, as well as space to accommodate women who require extended postpartum care. Safe Motherhood Action Groups (community health workers) conduct local outreach to encourage pregnant women to use the homes and plan for a safe delivery, including saving for transportation and supplies for childbirth.

Community driven managementCommunity-elected governing committees work

with maternity home managers and health facility staff to ensure smooth day-to-day operations and effective linkages to other services, such as postnatal care, postpartum family planning and health education.

KeY featUres of the iNitiatiVe

The Maternity Waiting Homes Alliance is part of Savings Mothers, Giving Life, a public-private partnership among the U.S. Government, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Every Mothers Counts, Project C.U.R.E and Merck for Mothers to reduce maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

These programs are supported by funding from Merck, through Merck for Mothers, the company’s 10-year, $500 million initiative to help create a world where no woman dies giving life. Merck for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside the United States and Canada.

PROGRAM AND PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Greece: Doctors of the World’s Greek Delegation is enhancing existing Medicins du Monde facilities to ensure increased access to maternal healthcare for vulnerable women. The Mother & Child Project is strengthening the capacity of healthcare professionals to meet the needs of refugees who are pregnant and living in remote regions. To date, the project has reached more than 28,000 women and 5,000 infants.

Brazil: we are collaborating with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein to decrease C-section rates for low-risk pregnant women. Engaging private and public hospitals across Brazil, the Parto Adequado Project is evaluating the best methods to promote vaginal delivery with the goal of scaling them nationwide. By the end of the project, we hope to markedly increase vaginal birth rates for low-risk women across 150 private and public hospitals.

Kenya: we are working with Jhpiego and the Kenya Red Cross Society to demonstrate an innovative, sustainable, and scalable model of contraceptive service delivery for adolescent girls and young women. Based in Mandera and Migori counties, the G-Amini Project is strengthening the government’s capacity to provide youth-focused sexual and reproductive health services and increase access and demand for contraception among young people.

Vietnam: Population Services International (PSI) is broadening contraceptive options for underserved Vietnamese women in various ways. By distributing multiple methods through channels accessible to underserved women and integrating family planning counseling into antenatal and post-pregnancy care, our goal is to reach an estimated 1.2 million underserved women and adolescents in four provinces.

ESTIMATED MATERNAL MORTALITY AROUND THE WORLD

99%of all maternal deaths are in developing countries

13,000

GLOBAL GIVING’S IMPACT

300,000pregnant women with improved

access to quality care

800Every day

OVERwomen die from preventable causes related to pregnancy

and childbirth

health workers trained

Overcoming the Distance Challenge in Zambia: The Maternity Waiting Homes Alliance GeoGraphic areas: 8 districts across Zambia (Lundazi, Mansa, Chembe, Kalomo, Nyimba, Pemba, Zimba, and Choma)

scale: 24 maternity waiting homes linked to high quality health facilities

timeframe: June 2015 – May 2018

In Zambia, many women live miles from the closest health facility with few, if any, affordable and safe transportation options, making it difficult for them to receive the quality, timely care they need during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. The Maternity Waiting Homes Alliance aims to overcome this distance challenge by building and strengthening maternity waiting homes — residences near health facilities where pregnant women can stay until they go into labor and immediately after childbirth. The goal is to make these homes sustainable by empowering local communities to both effectively manage them and generate income to support their operations through creative entrepreneurial activities, therefore ensuring the homes and the services they provide are available for the long term.

Laying the foundation for financial sustainability

The partners are exploring a variety of community-driven, income generating activities to provide a consistent source of revenue to ensure the long-term sustainability of the homes.

Building evidence for scale upThe Alliance will conduct a robust impact

evaluation to help determine whether maternity waiting homes can be both an effective and sustainable solution to overcoming the distance barrier to high quality care for women from remote areas. The evaluation will produce actionable findings to inform efforts to scale up maternity waiting homes in Zambia and beyond.

Quality care before, during and after deliveryEach home is located near a quality health facility

equipped to manage life-threatening emergencies that can arise during pregnancy or childbirth. The homes offer a range of educational resources and income generating activities for pregnant women to participate in during their stay, as well as space to accommodate women who require extended postpartum care. Safe Motherhood Action Groups (community health workers) conduct local outreach to encourage pregnant women to use the homes and plan for a safe delivery, including saving for transportation and supplies for childbirth.

Community driven managementCommunity-elected governing committees work

with maternity home managers and health facility staff to ensure smooth day-to-day operations and effective linkages to other services, such as postnatal care, postpartum family planning and health education.

KeY featUres of the iNitiatiVe

The Maternity Waiting Homes Alliance is part of Savings Mothers, Giving Life, a public-private partnership among the U.S. Government, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Every Mothers Counts, Project C.U.R.E and Merck for Mothers to reduce maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

These programs are supported by funding from Merck, through Merck for Mothers, the company’s 10-year, $500 million initiative to help create a world where no woman dies giving life. Merck for Mothers is known as MSD for Mothers outside the United States and Canada.