Midwifery Volunteering and Electives in Africa
Join us as Midwife Volunteers and on Midwifery Electives in Africa
Midwife volunteers, and those on midwifery elective placements volunteering with us in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda can be assured that they would make a substantial and positive contribution to maternal healthcare. You will be encouraging local staff, bolstering the capacity of the local healthcare systems, and sharing current best practices, and knowledge of the latest medical advancements, Such support and knowledge transfer can elevate the standard of care in these countries and empower local healthcare workers.
Midwives often have a deep understanding of local mores, making them equipped to provide culturally sensitive care, which can improve trust between healthcare providers and expectant mothers, leading to better outcomes. Above all, midwifery care is generally cost-effective, making it a practical choice for countries with limited healthcare budgets, supporting more extensive healthcare coverage and greater access to care, resulting in a reduction of healthcare disparities, ensuring that all women, regardless of their socio-economic status or geographic location, have access to quality maternal care.
In return, volunteer midwives and those on midwifery electives can learn about local customs and traditions, promoting cultural sensitivity, which can in turn support them at work in their own hospitals and communities in the West where large numbers of foreign-born people may live whose cultural norms are different to their own.
Midwifery Volunteering and Midwifery Electives with Give A Fig Volunteering
Overview
Our partner organisations in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda will work with you to ensure that your midwifery volunteering is successful, and achieves the aims you wish it to.
In Ghana, and Uganda, qualified midwives may work on their own national licence for 3 and 2 months respectively, on the approval of the local health board.
In Kenya, you will be able to obtain a national licence to practice for up to one year, which is obtainable in person in Nairobi on arrival.
Midwifery Volunteering
Our Midwifery placements can be undertaken in either Ghana, Uganda, or Kenya, or in each as you wish, and in accordance with your aims. Each country offers different opportunities in the rage of hospitals in which you can work, as well as the setups. In each country you will be fully supported, which you can read about on our relevant country pages
In both Ghana and Uganda, your experience can hospital, and community based, depending upon your preferences.
In Uganda you will be based in a teaching hospital
In Ghana, you can be based in a teaching hospital, as well as a local general hospital
In Kenya, there is a wide choice of hospital types, and locations, which can be decided upon with you
Midwifery Elective Placements
We are partnered with teaching hospitals in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, with the necessary setup in each to support students on their midwifery electives.
We are able to ensure that your elective will develop the skills and knowledge you wish to grow, and will tailor the elective to meet, wherever possible, your training institution’s requirements.
Are Africa’s MMRs and their Medical Brain Drain linked?
Map attribution below*
Midwives in Africa often work in community settings, making healthcare more accessible, especially in rural and underserved areas where hospitals and doctors may be far away. This accessibility is crucial in the countries in which we work, which are often low-resourced, a problem compounded by the medical brain drain from Africa
“A survey of Ghana's health-care facilities in 2002 found that 72% of all clinics and hospitals were unable to provide the full range of expected services, due to a lack of personnel. Fourty-three percent were unable to provide full child immunizations, 77% were unable to provide 24-hour emergency services and round-the-clock safe deliveries for women in childbirth. According to Dr. Ken Sagoe, of the Ghana Health Service, these statistics represent a severe deterioration in Ghana's health capacity. Sagoe also points out that 604 out of 871 medical officers trained in the country between 1993 and 2002 now practice overseas.” (Ibid)
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have highlighted the significance of midwifery as a cost-effective and vital part of healthcare systems across the African continent in reducing maternal mortality rates (MMR) as well as newborn mortality rates. In Africa, midwives can often be a pregnant woman’s primary caregiver for pregnant women, providing essential prenatal care, safe delivery, and postnatal support, contributing to the WHO's SDG of reducing maternal mortality.
The MMR of the UK, and Mexico, was 7 (2018), and 38 (2017) respectively, whereas in 2017, the MMR of South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, and Mauritius were 1,150 (the highest), 342, 313, 303, 138, and 42 respectively. And whilst across Africa the MMR fell significantly between 1999 and 2017, nevertheless, a WHO report states that it remains ‘a disaster across the African region’. The same report states that ‘Globally, a woman dies of pregnancy-related causes every two minutes; most of these deaths… (being) preventable with the right care at the right time.’ (Ibid)
Join us a midwifery volunteer or on an midwifery elective in Africa. Your contribution could save lives in the short and long term
Map attribution:
Map by Our World In Data - https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/maternal-mortality-ratio-sdgs, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86933160