December 15, 2015 By Samuel Ben Turay
Country Manager of United Kingdom (UK) based Life for African Mothers (LFAM) revealed yesterday at a press conference held at the ARK community centre on Robert Street in Freetown that his organisation plans to train some 400 Sierra Leonean midwives by the end of 2016.
Morlai Kamara said they had trained 30 midwives from various hospitals and health centres in the Western Area, adding that the training would be free, with facilitators coming from the UK.
He said his organisation believes that midwives have a great role to play in handling pregnant women and early birth issues.
“Life for African Mothers (LFAM) facilitates training programmes for midwives in sub-Sahara Africa. Through our work in providing Magnesium Sulphate and Misoprostol to maternity hospitals it became apparent that there was a need for up-skilling midwives,” said Kamara.
“We are also providing blanket for children. It is vital to keep babies warm after birth as the first few days of their life are critical for their survival. This is especially important for babies born with malaria, those suffering from malnutrition or diarrhea. Keeping warm diverts energy away from recovery, weight gain and as well as the development of inner organs.”
LFAM is a maternal health charity aiming to make birth safer in sub-Sahara Africa by providing medication to treat eclampsia and post partum haemorrhage.
“By providing medication to treat complications of child birth, we have been able to support hospitals and health centres across Africa and see huge reductions in maternal mortality,” he said, adding that they also facilitate midwifery training programmes in several countries to help train and update qualified midwives to enhance their clinical skills in caring for mother and baby.