Maternal Health
In remote villages of Papua New Guinea, a woman's journey through pregnancy and birth can be one of the most dangerous of her life.
Living Child works to change that through training community volunteers, improving referral pathways, and partnering with government with a goal that care will reach every household.
WHY IT MATTERS
The reality for women
in remote PNG
Papua New Guinea has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Pacific. Distance, terrain and a lack of skilled care providers make every birth a risk. We believe the power to change this starts from a community level.
215 x
PNG’s maternal mortality rate is over 215 times higher than Australia’s.
Source: WHO, 2023
42%
of births in rural PNG are not attended by a skilled health worker.
Source: DHS PNG
4hrs
average travel time to the nearest hospital from the villages we serve.
LC field data
30+
remote villages reached by Living Child’s Maternal Health program.
LC field data
OUR APPROACH
A systems approach
to lasting change
We provide professional development to qualified health workers at the request of government authorities.
We train community volunteers, such as Village Birth Attendants, Village Health Volunteers and Village Health Assistants, as vital lifelines between women in their community and formal health services.
We support mobile health patrols to provide remote communities with access to family planning, immunisations and regular health care.
We supply essential resources to support women’s health in remote communities, such as clean birth kits and reusable menstrual hygiene kits.
We assist with the refurbishment of aid posts and other vital health infrastructure.
Our Projects
Midwifery Upskilling
Training community health workers, nurses and midwives in essential maternal and newborn health care skills.
Meri Redi
Facilitating menstrual health workshops and distributing reusable menstrual hygiene kits from Days for Girls.
Connected Communities
Partnering with government to strengthen primary health services through mobile health patrol support, essential supplies and aid post improvements in hard-to-reach villages.
Helpim Mama
Training Village Birth Attendants and Village Health Assistants to recognise danger signs, make referrals to health facilities and save lives of mothers and babies.
Help us reach more mothers and babies in 2026.
Every donation goes directly to life-changing work in the field.