Meet Mary, a Private Practice Midwife

Today was inspirational to say the least. We got the opportunity to visit the practice of a private Midwife (Mary) who has become a dear friend to TGF. Mary is the prime of example of the ambitious women we are looking to support with our PPM concept. 

Mary started her practice with just one room and one mattress. Through her own initiative and hard work she has now bought her own plot of land and created a facility with an exam room, a birthing/delivery room, and a room for new mothers to rest after their delivery. By doing so, she has created more space to care for her community members.

While Mary is a midwife, she is so much more than just a person delivering medical services. Mary is a pillar of her community. Through Mary’s practice countless individuals and families receive medical services that they would otherwise not have access to.

Today we actually saw a case that just reiterated why the work of private practice midwives is so important and necessary. A mother came into to the clinic with her newborn for his 6 day checkup and upon examining the newborn Mary noticed that the boy actually had an infection in his umbilical cord. 

If gone untreated this child would have died from the infection. Luckily, Mary realized that the boy was infected and treated him with antibiotics. 

This is just one example of why private practices are so important. As you can tell Mary is doing life-saving work and creating a healthier future for her clients. She is embedded in her community and invested in her community members, whom are in much need of her services.

Time to Hit the Road!

This morning we created our in-country travel agenda. We will travel for about a week in total. Our initial trip will be to Wakiso and Masaka second. In both regions we will be meeting with private practice midwifes. After that it is back to Kampala so we can prepare for our longer journey.

Our second trip we have the pleasure of being accompanied by Sister Catherine. We will drive for 6 hours to Kalongo. Here we will visit with the principal of a midwifery school. This experience will add to TGF’s extensive knowledge about numerous educational institutions throughout Uganda.

When we leave Kalongo, we will make our way to Lira to speak with and observe a different midwife who runs her own private practice. Our mission is to speak with various private practice midwives and pick their brains a bit. In addition we would like to get a feel for the manner in which these private practices are run. 

From Lira we will travel to Mbale to connect with yet another private practice midwife. We are gathering an abundant amount of information which will help with our decision when choosing regions to target for our private practice midwife program. Our last stops before heading back to Kampala will be Jinja and Mukono. 

As you can see at TGF we like to do our homework. We will review all that we learned during our journey and decipher where we can start implementing the program. Once we secure funding of course!

Meeting time: TGF's Private Practice Midwifery (PPM) Program

Today we engaged in wonderful dialogue with UNMU (Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union) and UPMA (Uganda Private Midwives Association). Our meeting was both collaborative and informative. There was much passion in the room. It is encouraging to see and feel how enthusiastic everyone is about implementing TGF’s Private Practice Midwifery (PPM) Program.

PPM’s are vital to the communities within Uganda. These midwives care for a vulnerable population; being pregnant women and newborns. A majority of the time these midwives are working with minimal tools and inadequate professional education/competencies. When funding is secured, the midwives that become a part of the PPM program will benefit immensely as they will further their education and receive life-saving medical equipment and obstetrical tools. Not only will the midwives themselves benefit, but the community as a whole, as they will have access to a more empowered, more knowledgeable midwife as well as a more conducive birthing environment.

We have set a meeting for tomorrow so that we may identify exact regions in which we will travel to and speak with local PPMs. The goal is to pinpoint which region(s) TGF may pilot our PPM program.

The focus of this trip is to examine every last detail of the PPM concept so that TGF’s next trip to Uganda will focus solely on implementing our PPM program; which so many have dedicated their energy, knowledge, and most importantly, hearts to.

Arriving in Uganda

Traveling to Uganda was a long, but wonderful experience. Our first flight from SFO to Amsterdam took about 11 hours. Thankfully we had a short layover; only about an hour. Our next flight was shorter. It was about 8 hours. I think the excitement made the second flight seem much shorter also. Knowing that when the plane landed this time we would be in Uganda, made the flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe that much more exciting.

Upon arriving at the airport in Entebbe we were greeted and screened by women with masks on and thermometers in hand. Everyone had to have their temperatures taken before entering the country. As you know there has been much fear around the disease Ebola. The epidemic is in West Africa, which is far from Uganda. However, Uganda faces many other health issues such as HIV, malaria, and TB.  This is why our work is so important.

Leaving the airport was also a new, interesting experience. I have never seen a car with the steering wheel on the left hand side. It felt very different to sit on the right hand side as a passenger. Looking out my window, on our drive to Kampala, I saw many shops, bars, and mopeds (called “boda bodas”). The energy was enticing, even after our 19+ hours of travel. We couldn’t stop and join in the festivities as we needed to get to our hotel and settle in.

It is a pleasure to be able to travel to Uganda and participate in Meg’s wonderful work. I look forward to the weeks ahead and the valuable experiences I will gain.

-Danielle Calhoun

We're Off!!

I'm writing this from the international terminal at SFO. Very excited to be going on another important trip to Uganda. This time I have the blessing of seeing it through fresh eyes; Danielle, who is a faithful TGF volunteer. This is her first trip to Africa, and so you can share in this fresh perspective, she will be doing most of the blogging.

Thank you to her family who have put their trust in us to bring her home safely. We are very proud of Danielle who is coming way out of her comfort zone to take this extraordinary trip.

Next time you hear from us will be in Uganda. Be well!!

Meg Styles
TGF President and founder

Dorothy’s May Status Report

The month of May is normally a busy month for the scholars as it when the scholars have to prepare for exams and at the same time they have to carry out practical clinical training with the different hospitals like Mulago and Naguru.

TGF has 4 scholars who will be completing their 4 year Nursing course at the International Health Sciences University. Three of the scholars are from Gulu and one is from Katakwi district. The scholars have to undertake research proposal writing as part of the requirement for award of a degree in Nursing.

We felt it appropriate to share with you the research topics of the scholars and are extremely proud of the 3 scholars from Gulu who have decided to carry out their research with in Gulu!

Janet BNS 4: her research topic is "Assessment of knowledge attitudes and practice towards prevention of Hepatitis viral infection among people of Gulu”

Jennifer BNS 4: her research topic is "Factors influencing partograph use among midwives in Lacor hospital and Gulu regional referral hospital”

James BNS 4: his research topic is "Knowledge and attitude and practice of medical workers towards medical waste management in Gulu regional referral hospital”

Agnes BNS 4: her research topic is "Knowledge and attitudes towards obstetric fistulas among the categories of the population of international health sciences university”

The scholars are expected to begin serving the internship alongside the agreed bonding as per the terms of the scholarship immediately after graduation. We will be updating you on how the scholars will be faring during this new phase in their life. One would expect the job market for Nurses in Uganda to be an easy one, since the demand for health services in this country is high. On the whole, the past TGF scholars have all managed to get placement with different hospitals. However one of our scholars Immaculate has not been so lucky she is still on the job hunt and remains hopeful that she will get placement and finally be able to practice nursing.

TGF Note: We’d like to stress the importance of our scholar’s commitment to work in the northern town of Gulu. The north was the epicenter of Kony’s Lords Resistance Army’s reign of terror for over 22 years. Kony has left this region but the horrible scars remain.