Rotary Area of Focus: Saving mothers and children
Host Sponsor: Las Americas Rotary Club of Guatemala City, Guatemala
International Sponsor: Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton, Wisconsin, USA
Donors
District 6250 Designated Fund
Rotary Club of Fort Atkinson
Rotary Club of Madison
Rotary Club of Madison East-Monona
Rotary Club of Marshfield Sunrise
Menominee Sunrise Rotary Club
Rotary Club of Milwaukee
Rotary Club of Neillsville
Prairie du Chien Rotary Club
Rotary Club of Waunakee
Scope
Vocational training teams trained birth attendants and equip them with supplies. Master Trainers will be trained and equipped with mannequins and teaching materials. Trainers use two programs— Helping Mothers Survive and Helping Babies Survive—that were developed specifically for use in low-resource countries and have been used successfully since 2010.
We completed our 14-day Vocational Training Team trip in last October and had very successful trainings. We traveled to four different areas (Fraijanes, San Juan La Laguna, Totonicapan, and Guatemala City) and had several training days.
Impact
Altogether 59 midwives received training in Bleeding After Birth, 26 midwives and students in Essential Care for Labor and Birth, 16 students in preeclampsia.
Additionally, 13 doctors and nurses were trained in Bleeding After Birth and Helping Babies Breathe (newborn resuscitation). The physician director of health care facilities in the northern Guatemalan department also attended the training, was very pleased with the training, and has requested that we return to train all the doctors and nurses working in birthing hospitals and clinics in this department. We also received several invitations to train midwives and students.
By creating a self-sustaining program using the “Train the Trainer” model, this project will build the capacity of indigenous birth attendants, thereby allowing them to provide evidence-based care to women and babies in their communities to improve birth outcomes. Birth attendants trained as Master Trainers will educate other birth attendants, expanding the project’s scope and sustainability.
Some of the trainings required three different language interpreters (English – Spanish – Ki’che’).
Supporting Safe Birth 