The recurring theme of my week has been food. Food poverty, food production and efficient cooking facilities. In the industrialised world we are so used to having wide choices of food (and plenty of it). The easy availability of food, much of it ultra processed, means that the industrialised world is facing widespread health issues relating to obesity and sub-optimal…
Midwife in Malawi (part 8) – feeding babies
In my days at the hospital I have been focusing on improving services in the special care nursery. Finding alternative ways of feeding babies who cannot breastfeed is vital. With minimal equipment and staff with no specialist skills in caring for premature and sick babies, feeding and kangaroo care are the main things we can do. I described this in…
Midwife in Malawi (part 7) – hygiene and handwashing
Hygiene and handwashing are integral to professional healthcare practice in the UK. It is astonishing to experience a society where this just isn’t understood to be a priority. In the hospital here there is usually running (cold) water, but soap is not often available. It is simply not seen as a priority purchase. The irony of the posters on the…
Midwife in Malawi (part 6) – children’s health care
One day each week I am heading out into local communities to find out more about children’s health care in Malawi. Around this area there are a network of “under 5s clinics” which offer weight monitoring and vaccination services. These clinics are equivalent to our “well baby” clinics in the UK. I was involved in the provision of children’s health…
Midwife in Malawi (part 5) Kangaroo Care
This week I have been working in the special care nursery at the hospital. A grand title for a simple room set aside for premature or unwell babies, where they are cared for by their mothers. The special care and intensive care baby units that I have worked in in the UK have had high staffing levels because of the…