STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY HEALTH CADRES IN FETAL MOVEMENT MONITORING: A CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAM TO IMPROVE MATERNAL EARLY DETECTION OF FETAL WELL-BEING

Abstract

Background: Maternal perception of fetal movement is an important early indicator of fetal well-being, and reduced fetal movement (RFM) is often associated with fetal compromise. However, awareness and adherence to fetal movement monitoring remain low in many communities due to limited knowledge and insufficiently trained support personnel. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a capacity-building program designed to strengthen community health cadres in educating pregnant women to monitor fetal movements using the Cardiff Count-to-Ten method, and to assess improvements in maternal accuracy and consistency in daily monitoring
Methods: Ten cadres were trained to educate twenty-five pregnant women to perform daily fetal movement counting using the Cardiff Count-to-Ten method.
Results:
Cadre demonstration skills increased significantly from 55.2 to 88.3. Maternal counting accuracy improved from 28% to 88%, and consistency from 36% to 84%. Three cases of reduced fetal movement were successfully identified and referred to midwives for timely clinical evaluation. Discussion: The findings show that skill-based training and mentoring effectively enhance cadres’ communication and demonstration abilities, which in turn improve maternal understanding and adherence to monitoring. These results align with existing evidence indicating that fetal movement awareness promotes earlier care seeking, though its impact depends on strong referral pathways and responsive clinical follow-up.
Conclusion: Strengthening cadre capacity effectively improved maternal ability to detect fetal movement changes, supporting early identification of fetal distress.