With International Day of the Midwife just around the corner (5th May), LSTM's Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health (CMNH) has been successful in securing a new -9.3 million grant to continue their work with midwives in Kenya.
The grant has been awarded by the Department for International Development (DFID) as an extension of CMNH's Making it Happen programme, which is working to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity across eleven countries in Asia and Africa, including Kenya.
Head of CMNH, Prof. Nynke van Den Broek, said: "This is excellent new for CMNH.
"It is a vindication of the work we have already done in Kenya, and represents the third phase of activity under Making it Happen in that country since 2009.
"Key to our approach is working in partnership with national governments so I would like to thank our colleagues in the Kenyan Ministry of Health, and I look forward to our partnership improving outcomes for mothers and babies in in their country for years to come."
Making it Happen aims to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity by increasing the availability and quality of Skilled Birth Attendance and Emergency Obstetric Care and Newborn Care (EOC&NC). It utilises the skills of UK trained volunteer midwives and obstetricians to train health professionals in country.
The programme has three main components: (1) competency-based training packages in EOC&NC; (2) strengthening of data collection and use in the facilities and for research; and (3) introduction of a Quality Improvement methodology.
The current Making it Happen programme in Kenya is worth over -3 million and works in 15 counties. The new -9.3 million extension will extend the programme nationwide, taking in the remaining 32 counties.
It runs from 2014 to 2018 and will train 5,504 healthcare workers in EOC&NC; 300 as trainers to continue the training in-country; 128 as Course Directors to lead the delivery of further training courses; 480 in improved data collection and usage; and 480 in implementing a Quality Improvement methodology.
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