Malawi impressed at Frere Hospital success

Fewer fatalities of babies has Africa interested

JUST 10 years ago Frere Hospital in East London was notorious for its baby deaths.

And now the hospital, which has dramatically reduced the number of babies that die there, is sharing its expertise with other hospitals across Africa on how to offer effective healthcare services.

A delegation from Malawi arrived at Frere Hospital last week following a successful agreement reached between the two countries.

The agreement identified eight potential areas of mutual engagement.

Most relevant of these to this visit are:

● Health systems development and management;

● Technical and professional education and training health professionals; and

● Twinning between public sector hospitals.

Senior officials from Kamuzu College of Nursing and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Malawi spent two days engaging with Frere Hospital staff and management about the hospital’s maternity and birthing unit (MBU).

The aim of the visit was for them to learn how to establish their own MBU and run it.

At Frere Hospital, low-risk pregnant women are admitted at the MBU and attended to until after the delivery of their children, after which they are discharged.

Should there be any complications, the mothers and babies are then moved to the maternity ward.

Linda Robinson, an American-born nurse and midwife lecturer at Kamuzu College, described their visit as “thrilling”.

“We have been struggling to educate midwifery students in a space where other professionals are being taught because we want to focus on primary health of care and not a treatment-based system with doctors.

“I found literature from East London, South Africa about the MBU at Frere and I made contact,” she said.

Robinson said after months of back-and-forth communication and some aid from the US, they were able to arrange a site visit.

“It has only been a few hours since we arrived at this hospital and already we are learning a lot. We have learnt things like decongesting a referral hospital. It is wonderful to actually see a unit that is led, run and managed by midwives,” she said.

She acknowledged that resources in the different countries were not the same.

“Obviously this is nowhere near what we have because in some parts of Malawi there are no proper resources, including running water.”

The delegation was taken through the process a patient goes through from admission right to when she and the baby were discharged.

Elizabeth Chodzaza, who was part of the visiting team, said they were glad they were learning about the promotion of midwifery-led care for low-risk patients.

“We have learnt that even the layout of the hospital is important. We see that companionship is promoted and women’s partners can be here to support the mother,” said Chodzaza.

Frere Hospital CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said they were pleased to host their Malawian counterparts.

“The uniqueness of the MBU is that whilst it is a primary healthcare obstetric service, it is co-located on the Frere Hospital premises.

“Frere Hospital has improved the services provided to moms and babies through a coordinated programme of targeted interventions with the provincial and district health teams.

“These have included investments in additional medical equipment and infrastructure and strengthening the skills specifically for the management of pregnant women and children within the region,” Wagner said. —