HBB Maternal and Child Health Survey 2016 was held from 3rd to 6th January 2016. The main event, which was held on Saturday, 3rd January involved more than 30 students from 3 different universities, namely Penang Medical College (PMC), University College Dublin (UCD) and Curtin University Sarawak. As a community clinic that focuses on maternal and child health, the objective of this survey is to study the prevalence of pregnant women within 2 km radius from our clinic, identify the incidence of high-risk pregnancies and also assess any impediments to regular antenatal care for pregnant mothers.

Prior to the main event, a set of questionnaire was developed with guidance from family medicine and public health specialists. 7 students from PMC and UCD flew to our clinic in Phnom Penh 2 weeks earlier to test the questionnaire and identify the geographic feasibility of our survey areas. They performed house-to-house survey around HBB Clinic Phnom Penh in preparation for the larger-scale survey on 3rd January 2016.

During the main event, the 30 volunteers were assigned specific areas with high population density 2 km radius around our clinic. Other than answering the questionnaires, the community members were also given free medical check-up to screen for diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Each of the houses that has been screened and surveyed will temporarily be tagged by HBB sticky notes. By the end of the day, we had a total of 91 respondents, in which 31 of them are pregnant ladies.

Further information that we obtain from the questionnaires include their education level, household income, occupation and the history of their previous pregnancies. At HBB, we believe in data-guided health interventions. The findings from this survey will guide our future programs and service for the betterment of the community’s health.