Not the 'Devil's work': Reversing Club Foot Deformities in Children

Innocent Eteng

September 13, 2021 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Miraclefeet is a U.S. based nonprofit that provides free clubfoot treatment in 29 countries, including 15 in Africa. Following Ponseti, a nonsurgical treatment plan, caregivers gently manipulate a child’s feet by stretching them into the correct position and using plaster of Paris to cast the foot in that position. After 5-8 weeks, children wear braces for 23 hours every day for the first three months, then only while sleeping for 3-5 years, in order to maintain the correction. The brace is made up of a special shoe that is clipped to a bar. The treatment is less expensive and 98% effective when done early.

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Improving maternal healthcare in rural Nigeria with free drugs and birthing kits

Bayo Wahab

September 09, 2021 |

Pulse Nigeria |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Hacey Health Initiative and Alabiyamo Maternal and Child Healthcare Foundation are improving maternal and newborn health in rural communities. The groups have provided more than 50,000 birthing kits containing sterilized tools and other essentials and handed out over 100,000 long-lasting treated nets to prevent malaria. Women and infants can get medications and important vaccinations, along with clothes and baby food. The care is free and the groups work with community gatekeepers, like leaders in local markets, midwives, and other traditional birthing assistants, whose buy in is important to build trust.

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Helping migrant mothers to give their babies a healthy start

Irene Caselli

August 24, 2021 |

InfoMigrants |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Greece

AMURTEL Greece offers support for immigrant women from pregnancy until their babies are two years old. AMURTEL offers one-on-one appointments with midwives and infant feeding consultants, group classes, and peer-to-peer support groups with people from similar origins. Midwives can visit mothers in their homes or refugee camps. Breastfeeding support is an important focus of the organization, since many new mothers who would breastfeed in their home countries feel discouraged to do so by Western doctors.

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Why LGBTQ2S+ endometriosis support groups are key to better care

Ren Bangert

August 11, 2021 |

Xtra |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada

endoQueer is an online support network that provides a safe space for queer, trans, and non-binary people with endometriosis to build community, get support, and find resources. The site offers rigorously-researched resources, advocacy tips, and mutual aid. LGBTQ2S+ people can also find specific examples of how to advocate for inclusive care. endoQueer was consulted by Canada’s only endometriosis charity to help them create a blog highlighting the experiences of queer, trans, and non-binary people. The site also serves as a resource for health care providers looking to provide supportive and inclusive care.

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As Men Lead Charge Against Period Poverty In Nigeria, More Girls Now Make Their Pads

Ifedayo Ogunyemi

July 12, 2021 |

Prime Progress |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

The Feyisayo Sobowale Initiative (TFSI) works to address Period poverty, the lack of access to menstrual products by people who cannot afford them. In the four-hour training, TFSI distributes free sanitary products and teaches girls in schools how to make reusable pads so as to avoid the dangers of using old rags or paper. The girls receive a pattern and pamphlet with the steps to turn locally sourced cotton fabric into a sanitary pad that can be washed and reused for up to a year. The pad consists of two pieces of the cotton fabric sewn together with a pre-cut towel material inserted between them.

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In Southwest Virginia, Reestablishing a Rural Hospital System Requires Rebuilding Trust

Taylor Sisk

July 08, 2021 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

When two hospital systems merged to create Ballad Health, agreements ensured all hospitals would stay open for at least five years and essential services in each of the rural and poorly served counties would be maintained. Enforceable price controls lowered patient costs and, in an effort to rebuild community trust and improve overall health, $308 million was committed to community-based care. The community health programs are based on the missions of organizations like Health Wagon, which serves its rural patients by forming personal relationships, being easily accessible, and understanding their needs.

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Nutrition Interventions Securing Livelihoods in Hard-to-Reach Areas of Borno

Patrick Egwu

June 29, 2021 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Borno State

Doctors Without Borders treats malnutrition in areas of Nigeria facing food shortages due to violence and insurgency. When safe, it runs a mobile clinic to provide basic health care, including nutritional support, particularly to children. When communities are not safe enough to enter, the organization trains community members in basic patient care and provides them the tools to run basic tests and treat malnutrition. Community health workers are also trained to treat patients, dispense medications, and educate caregivers about child nutrition.

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Julia Burke Maternity Centre blends trado-modern methods to provide quality care

Aloysius Chidiebere Ugwu Adaobi N. Ezeokoli

June 21, 2021 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

The GEANCO Foundation provides services to increase the health of pregnant women, including an anemia clinic that provides free antenatal care and a stipend to support women’s nutritional needs. Because many women prefer to give birth with traditional birth attendants (TBAs), they’ve trained hundreds of TBAs to provide safe and hygienic care to pregnant women. Post-training, TBAs are supervised by a nurse midwife for compliance and lab technicians test women for more serious complications. GEANCO built sanitary modular clinics, with beds and a delivery room, for two TBAs with plans for more.

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Guilty or not Guilty? How PSN Africa is addressing the realities of postpartum depression in Lagos State

Chibuike Alagboso

June 07, 2021 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Lagos State

The Postpartum Support Network Africa turned a foothold in one Lagos hospital into a 50-hospital network in two states combatting postpartum depression by training healthcare workers, screening for the problem, and providing therapy to mothers. The World Health Organization estimates that postpartum depression affects nearly 1 in 5 women in developing countries. Though common, it can be hard to detect and many lack awareness of its symptoms and treatment. PSN Africa's six-year push to improve the response to the problem has reached tens of thousands of mothers and their caregivers.

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How Philadelphia escaped disaster in the face of a dozen shuttered maternity wards

Nina Feldman Alan Yu

June 04, 2021 |

WHYY |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A large number of hospital closures pushed the remaining obstetrics chiefs to work together to maintain safe and accessible maternity care, especially for low-income and English as a second language community members. The consortium shared best practices and established easily transferrable common electronic medical records. Hospitals triaged patients by needs and transferred them if needed, rather than prioritizing income generation and competition. Doctors practiced a “laborist” model where they were assigned to be on the labor and delivery floor rather than follow a particular caseload of patients.

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