Gynecology and obstetrics working group
Reducing child and maternal mortality in Laos
The infant and maternal mortality rate in Laos is high – about 10 times higher than in Switzerland. Many of these deaths could be avoided. The gynecology and obstetrics section of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project is therefore working to improve medical care for pregnant women and new mothers as well as gynecological care for women in Laos. Thanks to our long-standing partnership with the Mother and Newborn Hospital in Vientiane, we have already achieved a great deal. But there is still a lot to do.
The specific care of HIV-positive pregnant women is the origin of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project and is still an important part of our work today.
Preventing the transmission of HIV to newborns
Obstetrics is the oldest medical discipline in the Swiss Laos Hospital Project: when Dr. Urs Lauper – then Head Physician at the Department of Obstetrics at the University Hospital Zurich – first traveled to Laos in 1999, his aim was to prevent the transmission of the HIV virus from mothers to their newborns.
Together with the director of the Mother and Child Hospital in Vientiane, Prof. Dr. med. Bouavanh Sensathit, he initiated a project that includes HIV tests for pregnant women and medical care for HIV-positive people. The Prevention of Transmission of HIV from Mother to Child (PMCT) project still exists. Well over 10,000 pregnant women are now tested every year, around 1 percent of whom test positive.
Improving ultrasound diagnostics
In addition, our gynecology and obstetrics group is particularly committed to improving prenatal diagnostics with ultrasound examinations and laboratory tests. On the one hand, this includes the professional training of Laotian hospital staff by gynecologists and obstetricians from Switzerland.
On the other hand, we are continuously working on improving the often precarious technical equipment in Laotian hospitals: over the last 20 years, we have shipped several dozen decommissioned but fully functional ultrasound machines from Switzerland to Laos and put them into operation in various hospitals. We also finance new acquisitions locally as far as our resources allow.
Maintaining the mostly quite dated ultrasonic devices is a constant challenge. We are therefore regularly accompanied by technicians on our assignments.
The two-day perinatal workshop we initiated at the Mother and Newborn Hospital was an important step towards closer cooperation between gynecology/obstetrics and neonatology.
Strengthening perinatal medicine
Another focus is on improving cooperation between obstetricians and neonatologists (perinatal medicine). This cooperation is far less common in Laos than in Switzerland. However, in the event of complications during pregnancy, it is crucial for the survival and development of the newborn. In this context, the joint workshop with the neonatology specialist group in March 2025 was an important milestone.
Early detection of cervical cancer
The early detection of cervical cancer is also very important to us. The Swiss Laos Hospital Project has financed the training of two laboratory technicians who now carry out permanent screening at the Mother and Newborn Hospital, where we achieve a high quality of smears and findings.
This is a decisive step for the health of mothers: cervical cancer is a very common type of cancer, but can be treated well if detected early by removing the uterus.
Early detection of cervical cancer is at a high level thanks to well-established screening.
Teaching and training is a priority for the gynecology/obstetrics working group as well.
Our working group
Our team currently consists of eight gynecologists and four midwives who work at the Mother and Newborn Hospital (MNH) in the capital Vientiane and in various provincial hospitals. The MNH is the most important clinic for gynecology, obstetrics and neonatology in Laos and serves as a training hospital. The provincial hospitals are also indispensable for the training of medical staff. In addition, the provincial hospitals are usually the first port of call for emergencies and seriously ill patients from even more remote regions of the country. Our work therefore has an impact far beyond the country’s larger cities.