April 2016
On April 6th five midwives from the UK will be heading to Hoima to join our Ugandan colleagues for three weeks. In that time we will be launching the syphillis programme we have been fundraising for. Currently not everyone has access to to syphilis screening and treatment, so from April this year MAMA will be offering this to everyone attending antenatal at Azur clinic and the outreach clinics. See Harriet Jacob’s article about syphilis on our posts for more information.
In December we started a hand gel project where Azur will be manufacturing its own hand gel courtesy of the WHO “recipe”. This will be completed in April so all ward areas and toilets will have access to hand gel, so staff and patients will be able to practice good hand hygiene.
June 2016
At the end of June a couple of midwives will be taking two midwifery students to Hoima for their elective placement. They will be able to see first hand how maternity services differ vastly from those offered by the UK. Watch out for a post by the students telling of their experiences.
October 2016
Plans are under way for a small team from the UK to visit Hoima and follow up on the syphilis project started in April. Time will also be spent with staff involved in maternity care from Health Centre IIIs to update their knowledge and skills on managing obstetric emergencies, and to train a number of staff to training their colleagues……train the trainer.
November 2016
November will see the return of a small team of midwives to offer the annual mandatory updating we started last year. Currently there is no mandatory training for midwives or staff working in maternity so MAMA is offering free study days to update essential skills in midwifery. There will be presentations and practical workshops for staff to update themselves and become more confident in managing obstetric emergencies.