Rotarian Karin Davies, a retired pediatrician and a member of the Rotary Club of Del Mar, California, marshaled resources and connected key players to establish a curriculum for neonatal care at the University of Gondar’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences in Ethiopia, which is helping reduce their high infant mortality rate.
Davis led four vocational training team trips to Gondar between 2015 and 2017. The team, funded by a $107,000 Rotary Foundation Global Grant, trained 73 health care providers who now teach classes for midwives, nurses, and medical students on resuscitation techniques and post-recitation care for newborns.
She relates that she had just finished teaching a group of Ethiopian health care providers a life-saving technique for newborn babies, when a third-year obstetric resident came rushing in - “It really works,” he said. The night before, he had delivered an infant who was born limp and not breathing. After several unsuccessful attempts to stimulate the baby’s breathing, he used a technique, known as positive pressure ventilation, that he had learned only the day before. Within minutes, the baby was screaming.
“We saw the power of vocational training right before our eyes.” Your contribution to TRF enables this happen! Thank you