1. Human Resources for health – BeMONC Training
The health status of mothers and children is diverse across the counties with Samburu being one of the counties with poor maternal and neonatal health indicators. Only 25% of mothers in Samburu County deliver in health facilities under the care of a skilled birth attendant (SBA) and high fertility rate of 6.3 compared to the national rate of 3.9, indicating a higher proportion of women in Samburu are at greater risk of reproductive health related morbidity and mortality. Lack of capacity to deliver quality services by Health workers continue to be challenge in meeting the MDGs. Capacity building remains a key prerequisite to delivering quality services as well as realize the positive change in maternal health outcomes by increasing access to quality basic and comprehensive emergency neonatal and obstetric care. To achieve this Amref Health Africa in conjunction with the Ministry of Health’s Division of Reproductive Health implemented has implemented a number of initiatives as follows:
A. Training of Master
A master trainers approach was adopted as a sustainable way of establishing local capacity in Samburu County as well as to make it easier to cascade the training to the over 300 health workers. The master trainers’ training is a 10-day training, comprising of 5 days on skills development and another 5 days on how to teach the skill. Successful participants are then selected to become Mr Trainers.Areas Covered
- APP & PPH
- Manual removal of placenta
- PET
- Neonatal resuscitation
- Maternal resuscitation
- Breech delivery
- PAC/MVA
- Shoulder dystocia
- AMSTL
- Cut-down
B. Health Worker Training
The 5-day training focuses on the basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care for the conditions that occur regularly in most clinical situations affecting majority of the mothers and newborns thus contributing to needless loss of lives for both mothers and children. It covers the full scope of BeMONC with emphasis to the seven signal function related skills as well as, the respectful maternity care concept, interpersonal communication and counseling, infection prevention, triage and referral. The highly practical twenty five (25) sessions training is conducted using various learning aids ranging from practical skills to videos as well as humanistic models. Mnemonics and role plays are also used to enhance recall complex scenarios.The following sessions are covered among others:
- Over view of MNH situation in the country/county according to KDHS 2014 survey report
- Interpersonal communication, counseling and respectful maternity care
- Infection prevention and control
- ABCs
- Shock and unconsciousness
- Post abortion care and MVA skills
- Maternal Sepsis/Parenteral antibiotics
- Neonatal sepsis
- Kangaroo Mother Care
- Repair of Perineal tears
- Caesarian Section
- Management of normal labor and use of partograph
C. Laboratory staff Training
Effective laboratory services are an essential component of a functional health care system. Clinicians depend on laboratory tests to assess patients’ health, accurately diagnose the cause of illness and design appropriate treatment plans. Despite the importance of properly functioning laboratories in delivery of effective health care, Africa’s laboratory sector, especially laboratories in remote and underserved regions, often have weak and partly functional systems and are therefore the weakest link in the provision of quality health care services. The project in conjunction with the Amref clinical and diagnostics programme has been training the Samburu County staff on Good Clinical Laboratory Practices as well as technical testing on Parasitology, hematology, microbiology among others.
More on lab training in Amref (http://training.amref.org/index.php/laboratory-courses )The project team in coordination with the County Laboratory team conducted a baseline study to assess the current situation with an aim of crafting an intervention to address the challenges identified. The exercise which covered 13 laboratories identified Weak laboratory infrastructure in terms of design and utilities ,Inadequate laboratory safety programmes, Inadequate guidelines for laboratory services , Understaffing, few opportunities for continuing professional development programmes as some of the challenges hindering delivery of quality services.
Training photos link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4IzgbRGeBx4MExFRHVGZ0VjRW8
