Improving birth outcomes through education and training in Sierra Leone
Helena White, an experienced midwife from the UK, raises the importance of health links with midwives and healthcare workers in Sierra Leone in Africa. She describes the journey of creating a charity and explores the benefits and pitfalls of midwives using skills of education to share with others globally.
Helena White
This learning module can be used towards CPD for revalidation with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in the UK, and equivalent bodies in other jurisdictions.
Improving care in global settings Resources
Boerma T et al 2018 Global epidemiology of use of and disparities in caesarean sections The Lancet 392: 10155 1341-1348
International Confederation of Midwives 2019 Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice https://www.internationalmidwives.org/assets/files/general-files/2019/03/icm-competencies-en-screens.pdf
RCM Global Projects
https://www.rcm.org.uk/promoting/global/
Save the Children 2015 State of the World’s Mothers : The Urban Disadvantage https://www.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/libraries/SOWM_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf
The Lancet Maternal Health Series
http://www.maternalhealthseries.org/
United Nations Population Fund 2019 Unfinished Business https://www.unfpa.org/swop-2019
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
WHO 2018 Maternal Mortality
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality
WHO 2015 Statement on Caesarean section rates https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/161442/WHO_RHR_15.02_eng.pdf;jsessionid=8E2C54F0B4B88F3D0059F9FADE9FACF1?sequence=1
Demonstrating your learning: Improving Care in Global Settings
We hope you have enjoyed watching the video box set. The aim of producing this package is to enable you to learn about an aspect of midwifery practice which you will be able to use to improve the care of women, babies and their families. As a professional there will be times where you will need to demonstrate you have learned and, don’t forget that, writing down your learning will help this to be embedded in your memory! To this end we have devised some questions to help you progress. You may, of course, devise your own questions as well. These may then be used as part of your professional validation in the future.
Learning Outcomes
- After watching these talks you will have an insight into the significance of midwifery care and the unique circumstances within these settings
- Explored some of the evidence related to maternity care in some global settings
- Considered the significance of midwifery care in global settings.
- Understanding of some of the challenges faced by women and midwives in global setting
Reflective questions
- Explore the learning outcomes (LO) of this set of videos. What are the key aspects of the LO that are relevant to you and your scope and code of practice?
- Summarise what you have learned from these videos
- What are the feelings that have been raised as you watched them? Why you have felt this?
- What are the key pieces of research or evidence that you have learned about?
- How will this learning now affect your practice; the women, babies and families in your care?
- Are there ways you plan to make changes or take forward with others?
- What else would you like to find out about to help your learning on this topic?
Improving birth outcomes through education and training in Sierra Leone
Helena White
The African Maternity Link are a groups of NHS midwives who travel regularly to Sierra Leone to teach, update and support all health workers involved in maternity care, from doctors to traditional birth attendants. The midwives raise money through grant application s but mainly through fundraising events. They are now beginning to work with the new midwifery school in Bo, supporting the tutors to train the new generation of midwives.
Helena White, CEO, originally set up The African Maternity Link in 2012 as a direct health link between the Alexandra hospital in Redditch and Lumley Government hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone but when the maternity unit at the Alexandra was abruptly closed the Link was broken. But not wanting all their hard work to be lost, in 2016 Helena registered The African Maternity Link as an independent charity and now has midwives from several different UK hospitals on the team.
Helena qualified as a midwife in 1996 and was hospital based up until 3 years ago when she moved to work at Warwick and began working in the community. She feels this was the best career move and is enjoying looking after women on her caseload.
Helena lives in Warwick with her husband Chris and youngest son, William. Her eldest son, Charlie, works for Luton Town football club and her second son, Hamish, is studying for a masters in economics at Southampton University.
