MOMS@SRI LANKA
Multidisciplinary Obstetrics and Midwifery Simulation at Sri Lanka
PROJECT SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka is an island nation in the Indian Ocean located southeast of the Indian continent that is home to 21 million people, half of which are women. Despite the high maternal mortality ratio in South India, Sri Lanka is known for its success in reducing this ratio due to the efforts on improving education and public health measures. As obstetricians we wish to do more by bringing to Sri Lankan midwives and doctors our new life saving techniques such as learning to handle obstetric haemorrhages after birth and dealing with complications like pre-eclampsia, a life threatening condition.
Please help support this cause to make a difference in the lives of mothers.
Why is this important?
The day of giving birth is the most dangerous day for women and babies in the world. The majority of them who die on that day die needlessly because there aren't sufficient resources to save them, or because those looking after them don’t do the right thing in an emergency.
Why should I donate?
Because we are a tiny charity and every penny really counts! We have no overheads as our time is donated and do everything ourselves. We have a history of delivering these courses, and have found success in our teaching style. The intervention is sustainable as in addition to delivering training ourselves we also train participants to be trainers themselves, resulting in courses for others within the institutions we visit and those nearby.
What does the project involve?
We are a small team of 15 doctors and midwives from East London travelling to Sri Lanka this November to run two obstetric emergency skills courses for 10 days. We aim to establish two centres in the areas of Jaffna and Kurunegala. This is our first course in Sri Lanka but we already have hospitals in South India. On our last course in November 2017 ten of us trained 93 doctors, nurses and midwives to deal with emergencies and develop safer childbirth techniques.
What do we provide?
Education and training. Maternity emergencies require fast, safe and coordinated responses by a trained multiprofessional team. We have developed a maternity critical care training package to use around the world
What will we spend it on?
Our aim is to raise over £20,000 to fund the cost of transporting us and our equipment; of providing teaching materials; and evaluating the program.
The ultimate aim of our valuable project is to reach out to doctors and midwives caring for pregnant women to provide them with new resources and education. Your contributions towards this valuable cause are warmly appreciated.
