Four Tanzanian midwives visited Western Australia on a study tour recently, thanks to the Global Health Alliance WA (GHAWA) and a second round of funding from Rotary.
Their visit follows a successful study tour in April this year where six Tanzanian midwives also undertook the program, which includes masterclasses on obstetric emergencies, pregnancy care, maternal loss and breastfeeding, and time observing best practice maternity care in metropolitan and regional WA hospitals.
Established in 2009, the GHAWA program supports developing countries by deploying Australian nurses and midwives to provide professional development training.
The WA study tour takes this program one step further by embedding a sustainable program of maternal and neonatal care through a ‘train the trainer’ model.
The four midwives attended a series of workshops led by Tracy Martin, GHAWA Program Lead, and midwifery educator, Sara David, on leadership, management and the principles of the train-the-trainer model.
As a testament to the program’s success, Aquilino Fukunywa, who participated in the April study tour, has been teaching the foundation and intermediate units of the maternal and newborn care course in the rural village of Masaki.
Likewise, Chiku Hamisi has put her new skills to use back home teaching her colleagues how to use a uterine balloon tamponade to treat post-partum haemorrhage. Chiku has been teaching this method to doctors and midwives at four hospitals in Dar es Salaam after being taught by the midwifery team at Kalgoorlie Hospital.