Far out in the Bush
Very many years ago we were far out in the Bush. I was assisting in a Maternity Clinic run by midwives.
The nearest Hospital was many miles away. At night we delivered babies by the light of a candle.
The local ambulances were donkey carts, the arms of strong villagers and a wheelbarrow.
The first time I encountered the donkey cart ambulance, the mother never made it into the Clinic.
She gave birth on the cart as she arrived at the Clinic, the senior midwife running out to assist her and the baby being wrapped in the donkey cart owner's shirt until the baby could be brought into the warmth of the Clinic.
Gentlemen of the Bush - True Heroes
Strong villagers were at times pressed into service to carry the women into the Clinic. They often felt shy about carrying a woman about to deliver into the Clinic but, gentlemen all, put their strength at the service of the community.
We'd always make sure they got a glass of water or a cup of tea with something to eat before they left the Clinic, and I remember one gentleman - very young and tall, twisting his hands shyly together as we congratulated him on his first Mission of Mercy as newest Ambulance Carrier to the Community.
One mother arrived - unable to walk as she was in the throes of childbirth - over rutted dirt roads from a village in a wheelbarrow. The gentleman pushing the wheelbarrow had pushed it for four hours from an outlying village. A neighbour, he had heard the lady's cries for help, and brought her the only way he could to the Clinic
Yet another mother and baby's life had been saved again..
The impromptu ambulance men - often unsung heroes of the villages - remain green in my memory for the selfless and unpaid service they gave the women and babies in need.
Precious New Life
It was dangerous work, and one night the fighting came up as far as the Clinic. The senior midwife and myself heard the fighting going on nearby as we delivered a precious new life.
Eventually there was banging on the door and we opened the door (candle flickering shadows on the walls as my slightly unnerved young hands shook) to assist a man whose face and nose had just been chopped off in the fighting.
Age-Old Dilemma
We all worked so hard to keep the mother and babies safe, and as we did so, I first came into contact with that age-old dilemma of midwives tending mothers and newborns in need; how to preserve the life of the newly delivered innocent newborns amid the realities of strife, deepest poverty, no electricity and no incubators.
Every year about 1 million infants die due to prematurity
That reality still faces many in our world. Every year, about 1 million infants die due to prematurity complications. These deaths are often caused due to heat loss and dehydration that can easily be prevented by the use of an incubator. The sad reality is that there is a lack of low cost incubators in many areas. Most incubators run on electricity, and thus cannot be used in electricity-free areas such as war areas, squatter camps, poor rural areas, refugee camps lacking electricity.
Low Cost Incubator that runs independent of electricity
A Low Cost Incubator that runs independent of electricity has been the dream of many doctors and nurses for many years. At the Institute of Design at Stanford, Jane Chen and her team set about tackling this challenge. They heard stories of villagers without access to healthcare trying to warm up their tiny, premature babies with towels heated up on frying pans, or under lightbulbs.
The Embrace Infant Warmer
The Embrace Infant Warmer has been developed, and has reportedly already had a huge impact and saved thousands of lives.
The non-profit Organisation Embrace seeks to help vulnerable babies survive and thrive. There are opportunities to donate, volunteer, become an Embrace Fellow, or spread the word, to make an impact on a life just beginning.
Or you may be a doctor or midwife working in a war torn area, refugee camp, squatter camp, rural and outlying areas and be in need of this product for your Clinics/Camps.
INFORMATION
Please find the information at
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/26/jane-chen-embrace
http://embraceglobal.org/main/product
EMBRACE
http://embraceglobal.org/main/involve
IF YOU WISH TO DONATE TO HELP A NEWBORN SURVIVE IN AN IMPOVERISHED AREA, HERE IS THE LINK
https://embraceglobal.org/main/involve?section=donate
We were once a little newborn, who survived because we were given the warmth and
assistance we needed.Let us help others
as they begin their lives.
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