Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Helping Mothers Survive day 2; Essential Care for Small Babies day 1

 



Today we concluded our first Helping Mothers Survive course. We went through several skills and also spoke about a new intrauterine balloon that has been developed in South Africa which will hopefully be available in DR Congo soon. I am hopeful that it will reduce postpartum hemorrhages significantly here as it has done in several other African countries. 
It is shown in this video: 


We worked on how to repair lacerations of the cervix.


I demonstrated the Butterfly IQ ultrasound system for the participants. I learned about this system from my son, Brian, who is in medical school and has one of the Butterfly IQ ultrasound probes which he has used in his training. Latter-day Saint Charities has donated 3 Butterfly IQ probes and iPads which I brought over in my carry-on. One unit will be used here in Lubumbashi, one will go to Kinshasa. and one will go to Mbuji-Mayi. We have participants from all 3 cities in our course this week.


 We also practiced putting on the anti-shock pants which are designed to push blood into the vital organs in the case of a severe postpartum hemorrhage.


We then began the Essential Care of the Small Newborn and practiced "kangaroo care" where the mom uses a cloth to hold the baby close to her in order to help the baby maintain a normal temperature. I loved the colorful African prints they used.


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