All midwives in the UK keep up to date with current practice with regular training opportunities and it mandatory training is a requirement for maintaining your registration as a midwife. Midwives in Uganda don’t have the luxury of having updating days organised for them by their trust, or access to an array of online courses for them to take.
PACE is a Ugandan organisation who travel nationally to offer updating courses, but only one or two midwives from each hospital are released for this and new information is not always passed onto those who were unable to attend. In the past MAMA conducted informal training as we worked alongside midwives; topics determined by what was happening in the unit at the time.
Educational conferences
From December 2015, MAMA has provided annual mandatory training at Azur Clinic to all the midwives employed by Azur Clinic. Presenters are both from the UK and Uganda and the training days follow a similar format to those in the UK with presentations, skills and drills workshops, train the trainer programmes and breakout sessions to discuss topics in further detail.
We distribute folders for note taking, up to date guidelines, copies of the presentations and certificates of attendance. Subjects covered include management of PET and eclampsia, PPH, sepsis, shoulder dystocia, breech, prolonged SROM and neonatal resuscitation.
Expanding the remit
We invite midwives from surrounding Health Centres and Hoima Regional Referral Hospital so staff can train together from different aspects of maternity care in the Hoima District. These midwives will be referring mothers to each other on a regular basis and the staff find it helpful to meet, share experiences and outcomes, and how they can work together to improve the provision of maternity services in the district.
Azur staff involved in obstetric care now have to attend an annual mandatory training day to update their knowledge and practice emergency scenarios. Midwives, doctors, anaesthetist and theatre staff are in attendance.
Workplace visit
When the UK team is in Uganda follow up visits to workplaces can take place. In 2016 we started issuing emergency boxes for PET, PPH and neonatal resuscitation during our remote mandatory training sessions. All the boxes contain the necessary drugs and equipment for each emergency, a contents list for restocking, and a flow chart of how to manage the emergency.
Thank you!