Reflections on the Global Midwifery Twinning Project

April 2012 – March 2015

Joy KempRCM Global Professional AdvisorEdinburgh 5 May 2015

1. Advance safe, quality care2. Promotion of normality 3. Enable education and training4. Excellence in midwifery

regulation5. Champion research6. Provide leadership7. To influence, promote and

support global midwifery to improve maternal and child health across the world

RCM’S GLOBAL PROGRAMME - PART OF OUR PROFESSIONAL STRATEGY

EDU

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ULA

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Current RCM Global Projects

W4H, Nigeria

VSO Malawi

GMTP Uganda

GMTP Nepal

GMTP Cambodia

April 2012 – March 2015

PROJECT INTERVENTIONS • WORKSHOPS based

on needs identified in ICM’s MACAT

• 75 VOLUNTEER PLACEMENTS – 67 RCM members with specific skills. 4 week placements

• SUPPORT FROM RCM: Regular visits, phone calls, Skype, e mails

CASE STUDY FROM

CAMBODIA:

Twinning engenders

growth, hope, plans

and partnership

CASE STUDY FROM UGANDA

MIDSON outreach to temporary camps and shelters

MIDSON HELP DESK AT NATIONAL MATERNITY HOSPITAL, TEMPORARY MIDWIVES CLINIC AND

TENTED LABOUR WARD

NEPAL: BIRTH CENTRE

Results • RCM demonstrated its adaptability, flexibility and

capacity to change• beneficial effects on midwifery practice,

education and regulation• strengthened the capacity, enabled networking

and connections• Engaged RCM members as activists and

interested in volunteering /global work• programme design was too ambitious and

non-specific• South-to-south learning not maximised

• ‘Since I had (went to) Nepal in 2013, I also went to Bangladesh with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in May and Nov 2014 and became one of the facilitators on the LSTM programme in Feb 2015. I am now considering taking an MSc in International Public Health. I encourage friends and colleagues to get involved at an international level. It really does put our own NHS experiences and frustrations into perspective’.

From a 2013 volunteer reflection submitted in 2015

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RECIPROCITY IN ACTION

FINISHING, REFLECTING, MOVING ON• Dissemination• Research• Sustaining twinning

relationships• Developing new projects

/partnerships• Supporting spin-offs e.g.

Salford/Cambodia link• Nepal Response• Uganda bid

NEW DEVELOPMENTS @ RCM

Midwifery Society of Nepal (MIDSON)Press Release on the occasion of International Day of the Midwife: May 5, 2015

“Midwives: for a better tomorrow”- An Earth quake shatter- Today’s service at Bhaktapur Temporary ShelterOn this International Day of the Midwife, May 5, 2015, Nepal faced devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake on 25th of April which has claimed loss of > 8000 lives, displaced thousands of people and massive structural damage in the capital Kathmandu and elsewhere.We offer our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family following this tragedy .We pledge to offer our full support in providing professional service whatever way we can with special focus on the health and wellbeing of pregnant women, lactating mothers and their newborns, young people and general public as well during this panic period. Midwifery Society of Nepal (MIDSON) extends sincere appreciation to all national and international fellows who work beyond the call of duty in our Help Desk at Maternity Hospital Thapathali and ongoing Outreach Clinic in temporary shelters at Tundikhel and Bhaktapur for the quake victims. We have provided antenatal, post-partum, newborn care including general care to all. We assemble drugs, baby blankets (donated by Cathy Ellis Canada) soap and clothing for them. We found that many women have lost access to essential reproductive health services and terrible conditions without access to safe delivery services and lifesaving care.Evidence exist that midwifery services can be cost-effective, affordable and sustainable and should be included in national health plans and budgets in Nepal for dignified care and compassion. Investing in midwives allows doctors, nurses and other health cadres to focus on other health needs, while letting midwives focus on ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths. For further information, please contact Midwifery Society of Nepal

THANK YOU!

www.rcm.org.uk/globalwork