met4a and improving obstetric care in Africa

As a non-profit organization based in Remscheid, we have made it our mission to improve medical education and training in African countries, particularly in areas such as obstetrics and neonatology.

Since our founding a year ago, we have focused on reducing maternal and newborn mortality in Africa. Especially in sub-Saharan countries, where obstetrics often relies on the work of midwives, we see an enormous need for qualified training and continuous education. Our mission is to equip midwives and obstetric nurses with the necessary practical skills to make obstetrics safer and more efficient.

“Obstetrics in many sub-Saharan countries is mostly midwifery”, says Professor Dr. Helmut Kaulhausen, board member of met4a. “Therefore, it is crucial that midwives are not only well-trained but also regularly educated to ensure a safe birth and optimal care for mother and child.” This includes learning skills such as performing ultrasound examinations on expectant mothers and resuscitating newborns – all crucial measures that can save lives.

In March of this year, we conducted our first 14-day mission in Eritrea, and the experiences on the ground have shown us how important our work is. In the two major Eritrean clinics, Orotta Hospital and Edaga Hamus Hospital, we were able to train a total of ten midwives and obstetric nurses in basic ultrasound. In eight sessions, participants learned to recognize and correctly interpret sonographic findings such as multiple pregnancies, breech presentations, polyhydramnios, and placenta previa. The interest was so great that not only midwives but also young doctors seized the opportunity to gain their first experiences in obstetric ultrasound.

In addition to practical training, we held refresher courses and trained the clinic staff directly at the bedside. This included pediatric examinations and, if necessary, resuscitation of the children born during the day, together with the midwives. Our practice-oriented approach ensured that all participants could immediately apply the techniques they learned.

However, our work does not end with a one-time mission. met4a’s goal is to continuously ensure the further education of midwives and obstetric nurses. We plan to continue these training courses in Eritrea for at least two years and evaluate them regularly. The medium-term goal is to sustainably reduce maternal mortality as well as the frequency of intrauterine fetal death and birth complications. “We want to train midwives to react adequately to adaptation disorders of the newborn and also to recognize malformations early on”, explains Professor Dr. Christian Gnoth, our other expert in the association.

In addition to obstetrics, we have also addressed topics such as gynecological endocrinology and reproductive medicine. In many African countries, unfulfilled desire to have children is associated with great suffering, which is why we also want to start here to expand knowledge and treatment options on site.

A central concern of met4a is to pass on the knowledge learned to other obstetric specialists in the country. This is the only way to achieve a sustainable effect. We hope that the further education, which is carried out with a high level of motivation on site, will also strengthen healthcare in Eritrea and beyond in the long term.

But we are also thinking beyond Eritrea. The success of the program in Asmara motivates us to implement similar concepts in other African countries. We have already submitted an application to the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development to support a maternity clinic on the island of Zanzibar (Tanzania). We want to establish this idea of helping people to help themselves in other countries with high birth mortality.

The next met4a mission is already planned for October of this year. We are convinced that with our continuous work and sustainable training measures, we can make a long-term contribution to improving healthcare in Africa. Our vision is clear: to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and save lives through targeted training and continuous support.

We are proud to be part of such an important project and to make a real difference.