Midwifery Training - Prevention is Better than Cure

Lack of education is a major problem for many Ethiopians, but when it comes to childbirth, it can literally be deadly - currently one in 27 Ethiopian women will die during childbirth. Less than one third of women in Ethiopia see a doctor during their pregnancy, and only 6% of women have someone with any medical training present at the birth. Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are widespread in Ethiopia and the need for midwives to help prevent injuries such as fistula has never been greater. With help from Ethiopiaid, the Fistula Hospital has begun to expand its work to address this dire need.

A happy patient after surgery

Prevention is better than cure and is becoming an increasingly important part of the Hospital's work.. At the end of 2007, construction work began on a new midwifery college, which will train midwives to work in rural areas where antenatal care is desperately needed. The college is now wonderfully equipped and training is in full swing.

The midwives will work in clinics in remote areas providing ante-natal care and attending child-births. In the case of obstructed labour the midwives will refer the women to the nearest hospital. This care will improve the chances of a healthy childbirth and decrease the number of women falling victim to injuries such as fistula and worse.

Addis Ababa University and Jimma University have an ongoing arrangement with the hospital. Post-graduate doctors in obstetrics and gynaecology go to the hospital for two month training placements in fistula surgery. Their help has proved vital in increasing the hospital's capacity to prevent and treat fistula.

We want to contribute to expanding the work of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in order to help more women receive treatment throughout Ethiopia. The ordeal that fistula victims go through is truly heart-breaking.