Publications by authors named "Gladys Membe-Gadama"
Article Synopsis
- Many women in low-income countries lack access to essential ultrasound training during pregnancy due to a shortage of trained practitioners, prompting a study in Malawi to teach basic obstetric ultrasound to midwives.
- The study involved 29 midwives who completed a tailored education program, showing significant improvements in their knowledge, confidence, and practical skills after training.
- Despite the success in knowledge and skill enhancement, challenges remained in providing adequate supervision and ongoing support, highlighting the need for future improvements in training sustainability and follow-up.
Midwife-Led Ultrasound Scanning to Date Pregnancy in Malawi: Development of a Novel Training Program.
J Midwifery Womens Health
November 2022
Article Synopsis
- The use of ultrasound for determining gestational age is crucial for managing pregnancies, but it's often inaccessible in low-income countries due to a lack of trained practitioners.
- A new training course was developed to teach midwives essential skills in ultrasound scanning within a more practical timeframe of 10 days, instead of longer, traditional programs.
- This program has already seen success in Malawi, with 28 midwives becoming competent in ultrasound skills, highlighting the importance of adaptive approaches in medical training amid various challenges.
Introduction: Although ultrasound to determine gestational age is fundamental to the optimum management of pregnancy and is recommended for all women by the World Health Organisation, it remains unavailable to many women in low-income countries where trained practitioners are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate a novel, context-specific education package to teach midwives basic obstetric ultrasound, including the determination of gestational age by measurement of fetal femur length.
Methods: The study was conducted across six sites in Malawi in January 2021.
Background: Malawi has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with unsafe abortion as a major contributor. Curettage is most frequently used as the surgical method for treating incomplete abortions, even though it is costly for an impoverished health system and the less expensive and safe manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) method is recommended.
Methods: The aim of this 2016-17 study is to explore health worker's perception of doing MVA 1 year after an educational intervention.
Introduction: The maternal mortality ratio is decreasing globally, although it remains high in Malawi. Unsafe abortion is a major cause and treatment of complications after abortion is a big burden on the health system. Even though manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) is the recommended surgical treatment of incomplete abortions in the first trimester, many hospitals in Malawi continue to use sharp curettage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalawi has a high maternal mortality rate, of which unsafe abortion is a major cause. About 140,000 induced abortions are estimated every year, despite there being a restrictive abortion law in place. This leads to complications, such as incomplete abortions, which need to be treated to avoid further harm.
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