15-16 November, 2023 at the Provincial Hospital in Moussoro
Introduction
Service au Sahel organized a training in Moussoro in conjunction with the Representative of the Ministry of Health, Dr Youssouf Saleh Mahamat. The training was given by two volunteer doctors who came from N’Djamena
Since 2019, the association has organized four trainings in Moussoro.
The training was officially started by the Dr. Youssouf, who reminded the participants of the recent history of newborn mortality in Chad, while adding that the causes of newborn deaths are well known.
He shared that this training was a “great opportunity to help us…improve our skills.”
The hospital administration chose 15 people for the training, including doctors, nurses, and midwives. The participants came from multiple departments: Maternity, Pediatric, Emergency, and Therapeutic Nutrition.
The opening ceremony concluded with a picture of all the participants:
Day 1 Neonatal resuscitation
The first day was taught by Dr. Claudia Wahl with help from Miriam and Dr. Carmen.
The material used came from the program “Helping Babies Breath” from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The participants were able to practice using an inflatable simulator called NeoNatalie that resembles a newborn baby.
The first day covered evaluation of a newborn, initial care, ventilation, and resuscitation.
Day 2 Post-partum hemorrhaging
The second day, Dr. Claudia taught on post-partum hemorrhaging.
The leading cause of maternal death is “Severe bleeding after birth also called postpartum haemorrhage”, which “can kill a healthy woman within hours if she is unattended.”
Like the training in June 2022, the “Bleeding After Birth Complete 2.0” program from Helping Mothers Survive, a program of Jhpiego, was used for the training.
“After birth, the state of the mother and the baby can change quickly. The mother and her baby should be carefully monitored. The first minute after birth is critical to make sure that the baby is breathing normally.”
“Bleeding After Birth Complete 2.0”
Helping Mothers Survive
All during this second day of training, practical activities were done with different “patients” which required analysis and treatment by the training participants.
The training covered normal birth, moderate bleeding, and severe bleeding.
Partogram
At the request of hospital staff, the last part of the training covered how to use a partogram. The trainers showed the hospital staff how to graph labor and delivery. They learned how to recognize danger signs from the partogram and when to take action.
Conclusion
The second day finished with a closing ceremony. The Representative of the Ministry of Health, Dr Youssouf Saleh Mahamat was present as well as administrators from the hospital. Every participant received a certificate during the ceremony.
In closing, Dr. Youssouf thanked “the association Service au Sahel for everything they have done for Chad in general and in particular for the Bahr el Gazel province.”
Testimonial
A week after the training one of the participants told a trainer how she had put the training material into practice. She said,
“After trying several drugs to stop bleeding, and all other things I could, I compressed the uterus of one woman with my hand for about 15 minutes and the bleeding stopped.”
This testimony shows how simple acts can easily save a life. The association is proud to help improve training and hopes to do another training in the coming year.