Department of Global Outreach

Articles

September/October 2006
Before the Sky Train, HBLSS was there
By Shirley McCulloch, CNM, FNP, MSN and Carolyn Bell, CNM, FNP, MPH
There are no traditional birth attendants in Tibet and many women birth alone in remote areas without access to care. Not surprisingly, maternal and infant mortality are among the highest in the world. To address these issues, One HEART, in collaboration with the Lhasa Prefecture Health Bureau, has been training birth attendants for five years, and doing community health education for two years. HBLSS materials, adapted to the Tibetan context, have been especially useful in teaching at the community level, as literacy rates are low.
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July/August 2006
Haitian Health Foundation/KOMBIT Home Based Life Saving Skills Program
By Diana Beck, CNM, MS, ACNM Senior Technical Advisor
ACNM's Department of Global Outreach (DGO) began implementation of a Home Based Life Saving Skills (HBLSS) Program in Jeremie, Haiti in February 2006. This program is taking advantage of the lessons learned from other programs started by DGO, including one inIndia and three in Ethiopia.
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May/June 2006
Helping Women and Their Newborns in Liberia
By P. Annie Clark, CNM, MPH ACNM Senior Technical Advisor
The Improving Community Health Project (ICHP) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is being implemented through Africare, a non-governmental organization with headquarters in Washington , DC . Africare has subcontracted with ACNM to provide technical assistance to the ICHP to address Liberia's high rates of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality by broadly and effectively disseminating the ACNM Life Saving Skills (LSS) program among maternal/newborn health care providers working in clinics and Home Based Life Saving Skills (HBLSS) to address the critical delays that occur at the community level. Read full article.

 
March/April 2006
Saving Lives Around the World
By Sandy Buffington, CNM, MPH, FACNM, ACNM Senior Technical Advisor and Kathryn Boe, Workshop Participant
ACNM conducted its fourth Home Based Life Saving Skills workshop to prepare clinically experienced professionals in program development, assessment, training, and monitoring of the Home Based LSS Program. ACNM offers this opportunity to strengthen the role of midwives in the fight to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity around the world. Read full article.

 
November/December 2005
ACNM Partners with Community Nursing Program in Ghana
By Deborah Gordis, MPH, ACNM Director of Global Outreach
In 1999, the government of Ghana adopted the Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) strategy. This strategy was rooted in a service model developed by the Navrongo Health Research Centre in northern Ghana , as part of their Community Health and Family Planning demonstration project. In 2004, The Population Council, with partners Engender Health and ACNM, was awarded a contract by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help the Ghana Health Service implement CHPS in 28 priority districts. In October 2005, Deborah Gordis, MPH, ACNM Director of Global Outreach, represented ACNM at the partners meeting in Ghana . Read full article.

 
September/October 2005
ACNM Life Saving Skills Help Afghan Women
By Sandra T. Buffington, CNM, PNP, MPH, FACNM, Senior Technical Advisor and Paula Hammond, CNM
Afghanistan has one the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and in sections of northern Afghanistan the highest rates ever recorded. The effects of 25 years of war coupled with rugged terrain and remote communities, poverty, the low status of women, lack of development, and lack of health care infrastructure have had devastating effects on maternal-child health. In 2003, Paula Hammond, CNM from Oregon , was contacted by an international development organization that advises non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Afghanistan on how to address issues of maternal mortality. Read full article.

 
July/August 2005
The Birth of the Afghan Midwives Association
By Anne Richter, CNM, MPH
This spring, the American College of Nurse-Midwives began a new venture to help the midwives of Afghanistan . The midwives wanted to start their own association to improve the status of midwives in their country. A committee of Afghan midwives, Sheena Currie, midwifery advisor, REACH/JHPIEGO and other midwives met throughout the past year to organize themselves and clarify their goals. Their goals will sound familiar to most midwives; they included, being able to work according to their approved job description, have better working relationships with physicians and get adequate compensation. Read full article.

May/June 2005
Connecting with Midwives in Oman
By Shirley McCulloch, CNM, MSN
It was a great privilege and honor to represent the American College of Nurse-Midwives and be invited to present a research study at the Third International Conference on Nursing & Midwifery, sponsored by the Ministry of Health in Muscat, Oman. The conference focused on Protecting the Public: Promoting Professional Excellence, and covered ethical issues of nursing and midwifery. Read full article.

 
March/April 2005
Fistula and the Role of the Midwife
By P. Annie Clark, CNM, ACNM Senior Technical Advisor
Imagine that you are 14 years old and you have a husband through an arranged marriage. You became pregnant and gave birth to a stillborn baby boy after three days of labor at home, attended only by your mother-in-law. The nearest peripheral health facility is a six hour walk. It has been six months since you gave birth, and you are leaking urine and feces continuously. Your husband and his family shunned you because you smell bad, and they forced you to move out. You are too ashamed to return to your own village and family. You have no skills, no education, and no resources. Although this may seem unimaginable, the reality is that approximately two million women in the developing world are living with obstetric fistula, a pregnancy-related morbidity associated with prolonged obstructed labor. Read full article.