Support 300 Safe Births in the Nepal Himalaya

PHASE is committed to taking essential health care to mothers and children in the remote villages of Northern Gorkha district. Health workers in these communities are very isolated and have very few opportunities to update their skills – in spite of the fact that they need to work very independently: there is often not even a telephone for them to ring someone for advice.

Every May and October, health workers from the PHASE supported health centres get an opportunity to join an update training with experienced doctors or midwives. This year, seven of the Gorkha health workers joined eight others from different areas of Nepal for the training in Kathmandu, and 16 came together in Aarughat, the market town at the “end of the road” leading into Gorkha.

The training was facilitated by Drs Andy Ferguson, Dilys Noble, Gerda Pohl, Naomi Gillingham and Katrina Darke, all experienced GPs in the UK. The health workers had the opportunity to exchange experiences, discuss cases and practice clinical skills with the help of models which had previously been donated by Rotherham District Hospital.

Shiva Prasad Paudel, one of the government employed Auxiliary Health Workers taking part in the training, explains why it was useful to be part of this: “During our vocational course we mostly have lectures and we hardly ever get any practical training like this. The doctors facilitating here understand the difficulties of seeing patients in our remote posts and taught us many useful techniques to improve the care we give. I will certainly feel more confident and better able to care for expectant mothers in the future. “

With your help, we will not only be able to deliver class room based training, but can also send more senior health workers to the health posts to reinforce good practice and support front line health workers.

Thank you very much for continuing to support us