Help Me Save Lives at Birth

My first experience as a midwife in Africa was heart breaking. I arrived at a rural clinic where a woman had been in labor for two days. I wasn't able to hear the baby's heartbeat, and we transferred the woman to a hospital. Both her uterus and her bladder had ruptured, and a beautiful baby girl was born lifeless.
Fortunately, the woman's life was saved by the surgery. Without it she would have died from bleeding.

Later, I learned that the risk of maternal death is 50 times higher in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to developed countries, and the single most important cause of death is excessive bleeding after birth. As a PhD student, I have started on a search for solutions.

This year, I will be pilot testing a smartphone App, which teaches midwives in Ghana how to prevent and manage bleeding after birth via short films. My hope is that it will save lives at birth! You can be part of it by supporting me in going to Ghana. You will find the budget and the program for my fieldwork below.

Thank you!

Kind regards,

Christina Marie Braüner Nielsen
PhD Scholar, Master of Public Health, Midwife BSc
The three-week program in Ghana encompasses:
· Reconnaissance visits to hospitals in the Greater Accra
region to determine study details
· Pilot testing of Instacare via workshops for midwives
· Pilot testing of blood collection with drape compared to visual estimation
· Recruitment of observers for next year's study
· Procurement of ethical approvals
· Development of our network with Ghana Health Service and the Ministry of Health