Midwives Save Lives: Train 40 New African Midwives

Twenty-six-year-old Dorcas has served at the Amref Health Africa Kibera Health Clinic as an Ante-Natal Care (ANC) nurse and a midwife for the last three years. The expectant mother says becoming a nurse stemmed from her love of helping people, especially fellow moms. "I feel so good when I see mothers deliver successfully. That is my greatest joy."

At the facility, she works at the prenatal, postnatal, and delivery care units providing care to pregnant women, mothers, and newborns. Her patients are young girls between 17 to 26 years old, and many are on their third or fourth pregnancy. "I have to educate them on family planning and counsel the young girls, as they often come to the clinic when stressed," says Dorcas.

"I enjoy my work because I love it. I have always wanted to help and support people, especially women, and this was the perfect career choice," she says. Every day, Dorcas tends to nearly 30 women coming for ANC services and two or three women during delivery. "I would estimate about 50 children have been born through my help in this clinic," she says proudly. "It is a blessing to my soul."

Like all nurse-midwives, her experience is filled with highs and lows, with some lows being unforgettable moments that will stay with her forever. "It is not always happy [moments]. There are also sad moments, such as when a mother loses her pregnancy or dies. Six months ago, we lost a baby. The mother came to the clinic with premature labor. Since we did not have the equipment to resuscitate the baby, he ended up dying," Dorcas says near tears. "I feel so bad when a baby dies."

Aside from resuscitation equipment, the clinic cannot perform emergency caesarian sections or blood transfusions. These are vital services for newborns and mothers at risk of losing their lives. In these instances, the expectant mothers are referred to the nearest hospital by ambulance. "We always know in advance when a mother will require an emergency c-section. In those cases, we advise her to deliver at a more advanced hospital," she says.

During the height of the pandemic, things were especially hard for Dorcas. Though she received training from Amref's eLearning courses on COVID-19 measures, equipping herself with knowledge and skills that she passed on to her patients, she was also pregnant. She was incredibly afraid of risking her life and that of her baby due to exposure to the virus. "I was scared when a pregnant nurse in Kenya died from COVID-19. I am also pregnant, and our work as health workers exposes us to many risks. Nevertheless, I try to protect myself as much as I can."

According to Dorcas, the pandemic, unfortunately, reduced the number of pregnant women coming to the hospital. "We were worried because many women feared coming to the hospital and our numbers decreased," she says. At the clinic, admissions of pregnant women coming for ANC dropped drastically in April and June [2020]. This drop was linked to fears about COVID-19 and coming in contact with the virus at the clinic. To dispel the mothers' fears, Community Health Workers have played a critical role in ensuring mothers attend their ANC appointments.

Although the work is challenging and exhausting at times, what keeps her motivated is bringing a new life into this world.

Nurse-Midwives like Dorcas, and Community Health Workers, played a critical role during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. From eLearning courses to keep health workers updated on care and training, to innovative solutions like providing pop-up clinics to keep babies up-to-date with their vaccinations, Amref is at the forefront of creating community-focused health solutions for mothers and babies across the continent. With your help, we can continue to ensure lasting health change.