Support 300 Safe Births in the Nepal Himalaya

Kashigaun is a cluster of settlements which all teeter on a steep mountain side in Gorkha district.   I travelled there just a few days ago on the 23^rd November.  This involved a 9-hour drive from Kathmandu mostly on rough unpaved ‘roads’ that shake you to the core, and, after an overnight stop, a 9 hour hike up steep mountainous trails and over swing bridges which cross deep gorges.   Kashigaun was close the epicentre of the earthquake and the destructions is still clearly visible, landslides scar the hillsides and I can’t imagine how it felt, in April 2015, to have the sides of mountains crashing down around you.

I met Yunisha, she’s 19 and has been one of the PHASE Nurse Midwifes based at Kashigaun health centre for the last year and a half.  Her current home is still a small tin house shared with 4 other staff, as the health workers accommodation was also lost in the earthquake.  Her role is to carry out antenatal and postnatal checks, deliver babies, support child immunisation programmes, run a clinic, facilitate street dramas on malnutrition and other key topics…I could go on!  A tall order for one so young, but in the brief time I spent in Kashiguan she acted with grace and maturity way above her years.  

During her time in her role two cases which stick in her mind are a breech baby and a case of eclampsia.  She hadn’t seen a breech baby before but had learnt about it in her training and was able to deliver the baby safely.  Luckily for the eclampsia case a PHASE staff nurse (with higher qualification than Yunisha) was in Kashigaun at the time and she was able to assist and mother and baby were fine.

Recently Yunisha supported 27 year old Sunita to deliver her baby.  Yunisha and I visited Sunita in her small but cosy home which centred around a fire pit, despite our protests Sunita insisted on making us tea and a snack of soy beans.  Sunita’s baby, Jiban, is just three months old and was born at home with the support of Yunisha.  Sunita’s husband has been working away in Malaysia for 5 months to earn money for his family, so missed the birth of his youngest child.  The family have two other children Jennie who is 3 and Sonia who is 7.  Jennie the middle child was born at home with no help from a health professional, there was no health worker in the village at the time and the next place with any health facilities is Arughat a days walk away.

Sunita went to all her 4 antenatal checks and her postnatal check at the PHASE health post, for this she received the incentive of a solar light.  She also visited the health post when she was 8 months pregnant as she had a pain in her side.  Sunita told us she has taken part in PHASE child health workshops so now knows how to prepare baby weaning food and has learnt more about sanitation.  She has also joined a mother’s groups, facilitated by the PHASE health staff, which creates a support network. 

PHASE doesn’t just support health work in Gorkha, our integrated approach means that we also think about livelihoods and education.  Sunita is part of the farmers group, so we had seen her earlier that morning in the monthly farmers group meeting to discuss setting up polytunnels to increase the production of vegetables.  This will lead to a more varied diet and a greater nutrition for her and her young children.  PHASE is also supporting the schools in Kashiguan meaning than Jiban, Jennie and Sonia will receive and education that is more child centred.      

If you would like to support mothers like Sunita, on the 29^th November you can add 50% to your donation AND help PHASE secure prize money of £2000 by giving at Global Giving – www.globalgiving.co.uk/projects/safe-births-in-nepal

Thank you!!