Midwifery Project

One of our staff ladies in Iraq serves local women with a team of midwives who come together from three different organizations. They live in the same region, and all share a passion for empowering locals to provide better maternity care for their communities. Below are brief descriptions of the various programs they facilitate:

The Postnatal Program

The Postnatal Program provides home visits to new moms & babies living in refugee camps who would not otherwise initiate care after birth. This team is made up of nine local nurses and midwives who provide home visits in five different IDP camps in our region.

The Hospital Project

They aim to facilitate change through assisting hospital management to raise the practices of the labor ward to match the hospital standards, so that women receive better quality of care. They provide “on-the-job” trainings for nurses when needed to implement new skills.

The Doula Initiative

The Doula Initiative is assisting locally trained and certified doulas in gaining hospitals’ support to serve women in childbirth and build sustainable businesses.

Doulas are trained labor companions who provide emotional, physical, and educational support to women before, during and after childbirth.

There is a huge lack of respectful care shown to women during childbirth by medical staff. Husbands are not allowed to enter the maternity ward. Doulas are a new concept for this region so much pioneering work needs done.