Support 300 Safe Births in the Nepal Himalaya

Dear Supporters

It has now been 1 year since the earthquake which devastated communities across Nepal, including remote Gorkha district where this project is based.

Despite the fact that the health post buildings collapsed, the PHASE health workers continued to provide healthcare throughout the crisis. In fact, the health workers dug through the rubble to find medicines for emergency treatment and to continue other essential services such as maternal care.

Kashigaun is a remote village without road access. The maternity services PHASE supports are the only ones available in the area, and any complications in delivery can quickly get critical.

Seti is a 35-year old woman from Kashigaun, who was having her first baby. She delivered at home, and the birth was not attended by a trained health worker. After a 24-hour labour, a healthy baby was born, but unfortunately there were complications. Seti suffered from a retained placenta, meaning that the placenta did not come out naturally after the birth. Instead it remained inside her, which led to hemorrhaging. Exhausted, and rapidly losing blood, Seti fainted and drifted in and out of consciousness.

Seti’s family called the traditional healer, but he was unable to help. Time was ticking, and as a last resort the family came to get the PHASE health workers. When Samjhana and her colleagues arrived on the scene with their emergency bag of supplies they could see the situation was serious and they would have to act quickly. They worked out that the placenta was retained and that it needed to come out immediately.

Thankfully Samjhana and her colleagues had been trained on the techniques for this. Samjhana said “First, we put Seti on an IV drip to help with the low blood pressure and replace the fluid she had lost, and gave her an injection of Oxytocin to stop the bleeding and help to contract the uterus. Then, using a combination of massaging her uterus and carefully pulling on the umbilical cord, we managed to release the placenta.” Slowly, Seti recovered and her vital signs returned to normal.

According to local tradition, a new mother cannot feed the baby before the delivery of the placenta. So, the baby had fed by one of the neighbours while all of this was going on. Samjhana organised for the baby to be given back to the mother and counseled Seti about the importance of breast feeding for both the baby’s and mother’s health. She also chatted to her about the other aspects of caring for a newborn. She then left Seti with some antibiotics to prevent infection. Seti and her whole family were extremely thankful to Samjhana and the PHASE health workers, dreading to think what would have happened if they hadn’t been on hand.

One year on from the earthquake, and PHASE is still on the ground providing support to those most vulnerable. Our core values are sustainability and empowerment. So as well as providing immediate and needed handouts - food, soap, blankets, tools and housing materials – PHASE is committed to continue working alongside community members on long-term goals such as healthcare and livelihoods.

We would not be able to do any of this without your valued donations. At the moment, all donations being given to our earthquake support project, which works in some of the same remote areas in Gorkha, are being matched by 100%. This means anything you donate will be DOUBLED! To ensure your donation is matched, donate through this link: http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/projects/nepal-earthquake-emergency-appeal/

Thank you for everything you have done so far - we appreciate your continued support!

Sarah and the PHASE Worldwide team