Helping Mothers Survive is pleased to announce that the inaugural global training of our newest module, Essential Care for Labor & Birth (ECL&B), was held at the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Africa Regional Conference in Windhoek, Namibia on September 11, 2019.  Intensive preparations for the workshop included preparing all master trainers in advance and having materials shipped to Namibia and cleared through customs. Many documents were printed locally and in-country logistics were supported by the Independent Midwives Association of Namibia (IMANA). Partners from Laerdal Global Health traveled with needed materials as well.

ECL&B began its development with the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) and Jhpiego in 2016.  ICM provided expert feedback during module development, with this collaboration resulting in a 1-day learning module designed to improve the quality and experience of care for women and newborns during labor, birth, and immediately after. ECL&B is the foundation of the Helping Mothers Survive suite, forming the basis of quality, respectful care for women at birth.

Jhpiego master trainer (MT) Gaudiosa Tibaijuka traveled from Tanzania to support ICM 50,000 Happy Birthdays midwifery Project Managers (PM) from Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania, and ICM midwives Martha Bokosi and Florence West along with Laerdal Global Health MTs  to implement the training, in which 37 participants were certified as ECL&B champions. Most of the participants were midwives and nurse/midwives, along with two midwifery students and one doctor, coming from 22 different countries and representing the education sector, Ministries of Health, iNGOs and UN agencies. Congratulations to ICM for this well-received event! Stay connected with HMS by joining our member portal on the website.

The ECL&B module is a 1-day learning module designed to improve the quality and experience of care for women and newborns during labor, birth, and immediate postpartum. Embedded in the module are a series of short video clips from Global Health Media Project to enrich the learning experience. In Baltimore, we prepared six Master Trainers from our partners at Project Cure who assisted us in the training on September 12^th at the Admiral Fell Inn with a group of 33 participants from 17 organizations.

After preparing seven Master Trainers from our Latter-day Saint Charities partner, we held the ECL&B training for 42 participants from 18 organizations in Salt Lake City held at the Relief Society Building on Temple Square on September 18th.

In total, 21 countries and 31 organizations were represented, and below are some testimonials of how participants plan to implement ECL&B in the future.

“I have been teaching HBB [Helping Babies Breathe] in Guatemala and desire to expand to mother care in multiple regions.”

“I work with a group of midwives and physicians at a busy mission hospital in rural northern Ghana. I plan to share the training with them. I will also share the training with global health students at my home institution.”

“Share with my fellow nursing students what is learned and apply it to our clinical settings at various Maternal/Infant units in local hospitals.”

“Preparing for a medical humanitarian mission to Morocco in the spring of 2020.”

Coming soon in 2020:  French translation of ELC&B and two companion modules in the HMS suite: Complications of Labor & Birth and Vacuum Assisted Birth!