Education and Training for Midwives

Midwives play a key role in improving health and sanitation in remote villages.

Karimu has educated midwives in prenatal and postnatal care since 2010, when longtime volunteers Dr. Susan Hughmanick and the late Linda Presser initiated our efforts and the midwives formed a mutual-support group called Strong Health for Mothers and Children. Susan and Linda understood that with no adequate health facility nearby, the health and even the lives of mothers and their children would often depend on the competence of local midwives.

Classes taught during Karimu’s annual volunteer trip to Tanzania have covered topics ranging from hygiene to first aid to recognition of risky pregnancies. In 2019 more than fifty Ayalagaya and Arri Ward midwives attended an advanced midwife training course where videos focused on topics such as child delivery, breastfeeding, and child nutrition. The training also included an interactive component during which midwives exchanged experiences and knowledge. At the end of the course they received soap, blankets, baby clothes, and baby towels.

With the Karimu-built Dareda Kati Health Center now accessible every day around the clock to local residents, ensuring a better future for mothers and babies, the midwives’ role has evolved. Midwives coach and educate expectant mothers and accompany them to the Health Center for delivery. The community respects midwives as leaders, so Karimu relies on them to conduct community-wide surveys and assist with education about nutrition, baby cleanliness, recognizing malnutrition, and the importance of regular pregnancy check ups at the Health Center or an outreach clinic. Midwives have been crucial to the work that in the last few years has seen the number of pregnant women who receive consistent prenatal care almost double.

Benefits:

• With education and the support of a group, women have better access to clean birth environments and education about care during pregnancy and for their infants

Cost:

• $500 per year for clean birthing kits

Learn more about Karimu Health Program .