21 June 2012

By Martha Ndhlovu

As the only health care provider at the Paul Mambilima Rural Health Center, Nurse Phoeby Chiluba Kaela often works around the clock, treating suspected cases of malaria and pneumonia, providing prenatal and postnatal care for women and traveling miles to vaccinate children in their villages. That’s in addition to the births she attends several times a week.

The majority of her clients are women, and providing skilled maternal and newborn health care is her passion. A nurse-midwife for 23 years and duly trained in this area, Phoeby handles obstetric emergencies and birth complications—especially since the nearest hospital is a two- to three-hour drive over rugged terrain.

But Phoeby struggled to keep newborns alive. She lacked the proper resuscitation equipment. “Sometimes,” she explains, “I was using a syringe to suction babies and I would use a gauze to give some form of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

To read the full article—and to learn more about MCHIP’s essential newborn care program, including the Program's support for the “Helping Babies Breathe” initiative—click here.