Midwives on the Move (MoM)

One of the first initiatives beyond the day-to-day provision of care for mothers, children and babies which the Clinic set up was the MoM programme.  This involves midwives from the Clinic visiting women in their homes to provide antenatal care.  In Gubrye, women often aren’t able or willing to attend antenatal care at health facilities, possibly due to travel costs or because it is difficult take the time off work. The MoM programme is an essential part of ensuring women stay healthy through pregnancy and means that midwives see each woman four times through their pregnancy, and give all the care necessary in their homes.  This includes blood tests, ultrasound scanning, blood pressure, and urine analysis. 

We are grateful to EthiopiAid UK for their ongoing support for this project.

Inside/Outside

The Antenatal Circles project was established at the same time as the MoM programme as part of the Clinic’s outreach work.  It provides peer-support and educational group meetings for pregnant women and their birth partners, similar to antenatal education in the UK. The Clinic provides friendly, supportive and flexible sessions, with information given dependent on what the women and families This project was initially funded by Ethiopiaid UK, but is now included in the Clinic’s ongoing activities.

Slings and Things

One of the difficulties faced by some of the families is lack of funds to buy essential items for their baby’s wellbeing.  In response to this need, the Clinic has established a loaning library of cloth nappies and baby-carrying slings that women who have delivered their baby at the Clinic can borrow for up to six months. This small library makes a positive difference to the everyday lives of families with mothers returning to work and needing to carry their babies and protect them whilst out and about.  We are grateful to Little Frog (Poland) who donated the beautiful colourful slings used in the Library and to New Life, who donated the nappies used in the Library.

Childhood Growth and Nutritional Status Monitoring Programme (CGNSM)

The CGNSM Programme, which was established in October 202 provides monthly appointments to track the health and growth of the children in the Clinic’s catchment areas, and to identify any chronic issues, including health, medical and malnutrition. Since the progamme strted, the Clinic has been seeing between 100 – 200 children each month.  This programme has been  funded for the first twelve months by the Souter Charitable Trust.  We are very grateful for their support.