In Khost province, MSF runs the busy Khost maternity hospital which provide safe, high quality and free maternal and neonatal care to women and their babies in the southeastern part of the country. The hospital services comprise an inpatient department of 60 beds, a 10-bed delivery unit, a 28-bed newborn unit that includes a 10-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a dedicated kangaroo mother care area, two operating theatres, vaccinations for newborn babies, family planning, and health promotion. Though protective measures remain in place to reduce risks associated with COVID-19, following a reduction in COVID-19 cases MSF reinstated its pre-pandemic admission criteria which led deliveries in the hospital to increase to around 1,500 deliveries per month.
Across the province MSF also supports five Ministry of Public Health comprehensive health centres (CHCs) by paying the salaries of two midwives and a cleaner in each centre, enabling them to provide maternal healthcare 24/7. In 2021 MSF will begin supporting an additional three CHCs to help patients give birth closer to home.
At the maternity hospital, CHCs and in the community, MSF health promoters provide sessions on maternal and newborn health to both men and women, in separate groups. Because of the decision-making role of men in family matters in many Afghan households, it is important that they receive all the necessary information including about danger signs in pregnancy and the importance of breastfeeding so that both women and men are informed about the steps they can take to ensure good maternal and newborn health.