We find out about Cathy Ashwin and Michelle Anderson’s recent trip to India where they learnt about the experience of midwives working in maternity units and how women give birth.
When Inderjeet Kaur, Consultant Midwife at the Royal London Hospital, offered Head of MIDIRS, Cathy Ashwin and Practice Development Midwife, Michelle Anderson the chance to travel to India, it was an offer too good to turn down.
And so they travelled to Hyderabad, India, to find about the training of midwives at Fernandez Hospital.
Dr Fernandez is an obstetrician and through connections with the UK, she has developed a great admiration for the autonomy and professional status of UK midwives. She strives to promote the midwifery model of care throughout her hospital.
During their time, they had a glimpse into the unique midwifery programme pioneered by Dr Evita Fernandez to help train midwifery students.
“Currently, there is no professional regulatory body for midwifery training in Hyderabad, and this is something that Evita would like to change,” explains Cathy.
As well as providing support to student midwives, Cathy and Michelle had the opportunity to visit both the private and government hospitals where women give birth and explore the culture of India.
“We visited the government hospital…where literally hundreds of women waited, often with other family members, to see a doctor for an antenatal check, sometimes waiting an entire day before being seen (sometimes two days),” says Cathy.
“We stayed a while in the ‘delivery room’ and witnessed three births very close together. The women don’t have any privacy during the birth and give birth on their backs lying on metal trolleys.”
In total contrast, Cathy and Michelle were also taken to visit the ‘Stork Home’ the latest venture in the Fernandez Hospital projects.
“The building has been renovated to an extremely high standard with both furnishings and equipment catering for a wide range of needs – including a birthing pool,” says Cathy.
“Here, Michelle and I were set to work and gave a training session to the midwives and obstetricians working in the unit on the safe use of the pool including emergency evacuation procedures.”
Cathy and Michelle’s trip to India was certainly enlightening, and they were both moved by the hospitality shown to them by Dr Fernandez and the student midwives they met.
“We are impressed at how much work has already gone into this project of training midwives and fully appreciate the ongoing work required before midwives are fully recognised by the Indian Government and thus be awarded a professional qualification,” says Cathy.
MIDIRS (or the Midwives Information and Resource Service), which is part of NCT, is a not-for-profit educational charity providing information and resources that help maternity healthcare professionals or students succeed in their professional development and studies.
Find out more about Cathy and Michelle’s trip to India in their blog.
