Students put skills to use helping midwives in Uganda

University of Bedfordshire final year students Josie Ogden and Stacey Turner spent two weeks working at the Azur Christian Health Centre IV in Hoima, assisting the midwives there with postnatal and antenatal care on the wards and giving a helping a hand in the labour ward.

The students helped set up a new outreach clinic where they provided routine antenatal care, other health advice and child immunisations, as well as giving training and teaching to the midwives.

Josie, 21, said: “I was eager to do this placement in Uganda, not only to help the women and midwives in Uganda, but also to refine my basic midwifery skills which would benefit the women I care for in the UK.”

Stacey, 22, said: “I really wanted to have this experience to see how care differs in a developing country and to develop my basic midwifery skills in conditions where we aren’t so fortunate.

“Having come back into practice in the UK, the trip made me realise just how lucky we are to have our NHS, although the care they receive in Uganda is the best they can have with the resources they have to work with.”

The trip was organised by MAMA, a group of UK midwives who aim to empower and promote the advocacy of local Ugandan midwives and help improve maternal and neonatal health in the surrounding areas.

Rhi Grindle who runs MAMA, said: “Josie and Stacey were both great team players during their trip to Uganda with MAMA, both with the local midwives and the UK team. They quickly grasped how MAMA worked in Hoima, supporting staff and empowering the local midwives to advocate the best care they can for their mothers.”