Healthcare to Save Mothers and Babies

"When I am asked what is the most important project that we fund, it is always difficult to answer. How do you choose between providing lifesaving goats milk for a mother who is too thin herself to feed her baby, a hand pump so that water is at hand for small children, or a midwife so that young mothers and their babies have medical help close by in their own village. It is almost impossible to prioritise, as all are desperately needed.  However, the philosophy of Kids for Kids is to prevent problems from becoming catastrophes. Can you imagine a greater catastrophe than a young girl suffering the pain of childbirth, and the older women in the village - untrained and with no knowledge of hygiene or sterilisation - telling her the baby is stuck? Somehow they have to get her to hospital across desert terrain, with no shade in the blinding heat. The baby stands no chance of surviving. If the mother does not die herself, fistula may be her best hope.  No-one can live with someone with fistula - double incontinence - in a country as hot as Sudan. "   Patricia Parker MBE 

We are proud to say that 37 young women from Kids for Kids villages have all graduated with honours in 2015 from the midwife training school that we funded in El Fasher, thanks to generous supporters. The training for a village midwife is arduous. Many of the volunteers will never have visited the regional capital.  It takes a progressive village leader to allow these young ladies to leave their village for 14 months to train. They do not return during this period. They live in a compound where their only relaxation is on a Friday when they go to the mosque and wash their clothes. Within weeks of arriving in El Fasher they will be assisting at births. Many have helped deliver healthy twins. The experience they gain during these 14 months is extraordinary but essential.  

Why do they do it? They do it because they are all altruistic, caring young women, who are determined to help women they know in their own communities and are brave enough to undertake the training. When they return to their village they will become one of the most respected people there.  Kids for Kids always funds the training of 2 village midwives in each community This is so they can support each other, sometimes in very difficult situations. There will be times when a friend whom they have known since childhood does not survive despite their skills. To have a colleague to support them is essential if they are not to suffer burnout.

The success rate of Kids for Kids midwives is extraordinary. In her first 12 months Halima delivered 800 healthy babies, 4 of whom were twins. Important too are the statistics that show that they have the authority to convince women to travel to El Fasher to the main hospital there if there is a risk of a difficult birth. This also has saved many lives. 

Please will you help us to train and equip the next team in 2016?  

$35 funds a food tray to keep food clean so that little ones do not become ill

$100 provides the kit a village midwife needs to help her work - including a small tin trunk to keep it safe

$230 funds a solar lantern to help with night-time deliveries - there is no electricity

$245 provides a strong crossbred donkey to enable a village midwife to get to her patients quickly (donkeys are the only transport)

$612 provides a donkey cart ambulance for emergency cases to get to hospital 

$3,050 funds a new midwife in a village

Thank you for your support.   

Links:

• Kids for Kids website for more information
• Join the conversation on Facebook

Saving mothers and babies from dying during childbirth in Darfur - latest update from the field

Childbirth is a dangerous and frightening prospect for young girls in Darfur.   There is no health care in the villages of North Darfur.   The vast majority are miles from the main towns but even the hospital outside the regional capital, El Fasher, have limited facilities, with virtually no equipment or ways of controlling pain.  Girls marry young, and because Female Genital Mutilation is still widespread in remote villages, there is a very high risk of obstructed labour.  You may know that when our Founder Patricia Parker asked what help was available, one of the mums-to-be answered:  "We have no hospital nearby and no money to pay for health care.  There is a Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) in our villages.  She has survived childbirth, and if there is a problem, she can assist with rope delivery".  Can you imagine what a terrifying prospect childbirth must be for these young women?  When there is obstructed labour it is imperative that the mother to be gets to hospital in time, but many don't make it. 

Kids for Kids midwives are making a lasting difference.  We have built a training school for midwives and - funds permitting - we train 40 midwives each year.  Our aim is to have 2 midwives in each village, so they can support the community and back each other up when difficult decisions need to be made, such as when to send a complicated case to hospital.  Just a few weeks ago we heard of a case where the local TBA was telling a woman who had been pregnant for 12 months that she should continue to wait for nature to take its course.  Our Programme Manager Salim told us:  "Fortunately the village leaders listened to the midwife and got the patient to hospital just in time.  Of course after 12 months something was seriously wrong and she nearly lost her life."  

News from our newest midwives:  You will be pleased to know that this year's group are nearly ready to graduate!  They are really excited to return to their villages and help the women and babies there.  They not only help with childbirth but are also vital in advising on early-years nutrition.  This is particularly important at this time of year when food has run out and harvests are still 2-3 months away.  People are forced to forage and without good advice might feed children with plants like Mukheit that are toxic if not processed correctly.  Our midwives are also trained to administer basic drugs such as antibiotics, ensuring that they are used properly and in appropriate dosages.  No wonder people are staying in Kids for Kids villages!  As one midwife told Patricia "people stay here because they know that with our help they and their children have a better chance."

Your donation makes all the difference!  

$35 funds a food tray to keep food clean so that little ones do not become ill

$100 provides the kit a village midwife needs to help her work - including a small tin trunk to keep it safe

$230 funds a solar lantern to help with nighttime deliveries - there is no electricity

$245 provides a strong crossbred donkey to enable a village midwife to get to her patients quickly (donkeys are the only transport)

$612 provides a donkey cart ambulance for emergency cases to get to hospital 

$3,050 funds a new midwife in a village

Thank you for your support.   

Links:

• Kids for Kids website for more information
• Join the conversation on Facebook