Mama Regina works as a midwife in rural Kenya. One night at the beginning of the rainy season as she was securing her house for the evening, she was startled by a knock at the door. A young woman living on the other side of the river had gone into labor and Mama Regina was needed urgently. Upon her arrival, Mama Regina’s fears were confirmed; the woman had never received any care during her pregnancy. No one in the family knew if she had experienced any complications and it was difficult for the young woman to communicate with Mama Regina. It was her first birth; she was nervous and unable to remember all the details of her pregnancy. Without any record of the woman’s pre-natal experience, Mama Regina was somewhat in the dark as she prepared for a delivery that would take place on a stormy night on the far side of a swelling river, many miles from the closest hospital.
As you read the story above, consider this question: How could this situation have been avoided?
Had the young woman had access to pre-natal care, any risk signs could have been identified early on in her pregnancy. She would have had an opportunity to prepare a birth plan that would have provided a strategy for getting to the hospital in an emergency. And, the midwife attending her would have had a clear idea of what to expect. The risk of birth complications and other adverse outcomes increase when women do not have access to pre-natal care. Care during pregnancy provides health providers an opportunity to address underlying health factors and prepare for a safe delivery.
So, what are we doing to change the story?
The TARA Project is facilitating the development of a prenatal record keeping system in our Kenyan community; but we are not working alone on this new endeavor. The TARA Project is happy to announce that we will be working with two Emory University students this summer. Students from the Rollins School of Public Health are encouraged to apply for funding through the university to travel abroad during the summer months. Students who participate in this “Global Field Experience” typically conduct research or work on public health interventions “in the field.” After putting out a call for applicants to assist us with our Delivering Hope program, The TARA Project was lucky enough to have two students commit to work with us.
The students will facilitate the development of a prenatal care, record-keeping tool. The tool will enhance delivery of prenatal care to expectant mothers in our Kenyan community by assisting midwives to:
- Gather important health information,
- Identify any risk signs early in pregnancy
- Offer referral when necessary
- And assist pregnant women to plan for their birth.
The students will work closely with local women, midwives, elders and leaders in health provision to ensure that the record keeping tools they create are thorough, easy to use, culturally appropriate and in line with ethical standards. By working with the community to encourage pre-natal visits attended by skilled midwives The TARA Project and our student partners are helping reduce maternal death and improve child health in Kenya.
How you can get involved:
The TARA Project would like to extend a very big THANK YOU to Emory University for providing funding for this project. Although Emory has provided a generous financial contribution through their Global Field Experience funding, the students will take on some costs themselves. You can help relieve some of their cost burden by providing a donation to help pay their baggage fees. Our students have been gracious enough to offer to transport some donated goods to Kenya including a donated computer for our partner organization and donated supplies for artisans involved in TARA’s Art into Action program. Take a moment to donate a few dollars to ensure that all our materials make it to Kenya: http://www.taraproject.org/giving.html No contribution is too small. As they say in Kenya:
Haba na haba hujaza kibaba.
Little by little fills the measure.
