New materials enhance training

Learning how to measure dilation with fingers

Thanks to support from our donors, we were recently able to purchase sophisticated and realistic childbirth education materials to use in our midwife training. Some of these materials include: colorful charts and posters illustrating bodily changes during pregnancy, a life-sized model of a human pelvis; 3-D representations of the stages of cervical dilation;  and models of the fetus at various stages of development. For many of the midwives, it is the first time they are able to visualize what takes place inside a woman’s body during pregnancy and childbirth.

Midwives discuss warning signs of pregnancy

Our training team has also created slideshows to display photos, videos, and diagrams, as well as a reference card with culturally-appropriate pictorial representations of the warning signs of pregnancy. Because many training participants are not literate in Spanish, visual tools such as these are utilized heavily. Other activities introduced this year are designed to maximize interaction among participants, allowing them to learn from each others’ experience and knowledge.

This new dynamic training curriculum has been instrumental in helping midwives grasp fundamental information and enabling the training team to better explain how midwives’ actions can improve outcomes for the mothers and babies in their care.