Training Midwives
One in 16 women die in pregnancy or childbirth in Africa. Midwives are vital in the effort to improve this shocking statistic.
Women die needlessly of conditions that would be easily treatable if trained staff were available. Women often travel for miles to reach a trained midwife, by foot or on the back of a bicycle, only to die or to lose their child on the way.
The solution
AMREF provides intensive training courses which are both practical and classroom-based. The trainees learn to manage common complications during delivery, such as high blood pressure, excessive bleeding, or retained placenta, as well as giving the mothers antenatal and postnatal advice. They are also trained to recognise signs of more severe complications and are able to refer women on to better equipped facilities. Under close supervision, trainees are also trained to deliver babies in order to prepare them for work back in their communities. AMREF also provides innovative e-learning courses to midwives, which are predominantly computer-based rather than classroom courses.