Well on Their Way believes that no matter where in the world a pregnant woman presents to deliver her baby, she should leave that facility alive and in good health, with a healthy baby in her arms.
With your support this giving season, you can help us fulfill our mission.
Previously the medical arm of STEP-UP (Sustain, Train, Educate, Promote – Uganda Project), Well on Their Way is a group of American physicians working together with Ugandan clinicians to improve delivery outcomes of mothers and babies in Gulu District in northern Uganda, a region previously torn apart by a 20-year war. Based on data from UNICEF, although rates of maternal and newborn mortality are decreasing, a mother and her newborn in Gulu District are still approximately ten times more likely not to survive childbirth than a mother and newborn in the United States.
Since 2013, our team has worked to reduce newborn and maternal/ mortality by making sure that every health care provider, whether a clinical officer, midwife or nurse, in even the most remote two room clinic has the equipment, skills, and knowledge to correctly identify and manage maternal and newborn emergencies.
We have done this by providing five evidence-based training programs developed by the WHO specifically for resource poor countries:
- Helping Babies Breathe (providing immediate ventilation for babies born with asphyxia)
- Essential Care of Every Baby (important care and assessment within the first 24 hours of life)
- Bleeding After Birth (management of the mother with post-partum hemorrhage)
- Essential Care for Labor and Delivery
- Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia (identifying, managing and appropriately referring this life-threatening illness)
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We train trainers, who have trained over 100 local health care providers at 26 health centers scattered miles from each other in this very remote, impoverished region. As you know, however, knowledge and skills get lost if they are not periodically refreshed. Our next focus will be twofold:
- Providing the means for every health care worker to keep his/her skills and knowledge updated, through rotating eight week refresher courses, right at the worker’s own health center.
- Providing training of the five core curricula annually to every newly hired nurse, midwife and clinical officer in Gulu District.
Equipment, training, transportation…they all cost money, but your dollar goes a long way in Uganda. See how your donation works:
| $40 supports purchase of a fetal Doppler to measure the fetal heart rate - $200 buys 5! | $50 supports purchase of an infant scale - $250 buys 5!
| $100 supports one core eight-week refresher course for all of the health care providers staffing one of the 26 health centers | $200 supports training of one newly hired health care worker in all five courses of newborn and maternal care | $1000 supports training of 20 newly hired health care workers in one of the five core WHO courses
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Check out this video to hear from our Ugandan
colleagues about our impact!
Please join us in making sure that every mother and baby in Gulu District receives appropriate care at delivery giving them the best chances for a healthy start …so they are Well on Their Way...and make your contribution even more powerful by sharing this via email, word of mouth, and social media.
Thank you, Asante sana, Afoyo
The Well on Their Way team
Highlights
See all activity83Thanks for contributing to a successful year end campaign!
Dear Friends,
The Well on the Way team is so grateful for all of your donations. We are delighted to announce that the year end campaign raised over $13,000! Thank you for the support that came from all of you.
Last week we met on line with our Ugandan partners, who have been watching our campaign closely and are really happy with the results. They have been working so hard to train their colleagues and to be available to them for support. Health center based refresher training has started. This is no easy task - WOtW's three master midwives have to pay for motorcycle transport to health centers spread apart by several miles, deliver training equipment (mannequins, flip charts, etc), provide mentoring to the nurse in charge, then follow up in person and by phone...ultimately making sure that the staff at all 26 health centers will have the opportunity to refresh their skills in five different curricula! It is logistically complex...but it is happening, and they know that with the funding available, it will continue to happen. Susan, Jackie and Monica are so grateful...as are all the health care providers and the people who live in Gulu District.
A small team will be traveling to Uganda in March 2024, and more details about our plans will follow. They are in need of basic equipment such as infant and adult scales, and fetal Doppler monitors. We want you to know that with the funding available, we will be able to move forward with making purchases.
We are having an impact in one corner of the world where need is great, and could not do so without your help.
Wishing you the best in 2024.
With great gratitude, the Well on Their Way team -
Ann, Helen, Linda, Matt and Meg
Thank you, Asante sana, Afoyo!
