« Waterbirth in Iran | Main | Labour wards in Iran »

Midwives workshop in Iran

After the excitement of the obstetricians workshop and the first waterbirth in the new birth centre came a change of pace for me as I facilitated a workshop with the midwives. A group of 50 had assembled and it was great to meet many of the midwives who had been in my previous group 18 month ago. There were lots of hugs and stories to be told and I spent much of the day having my photo taken (these new mobile phones make it easy!) with old and new friends.

The workshop itself was great. I had decided that the theme would be pre-natal education, as midwives have a major role to play in this area. Since my last visit, a number of programs have been launched to begin addressing the lack of prenatal education in Iran, which is very encouraging. During the day we explored the various kinds of programs that might be suitable, their location, format and content. We also had some fun trying a number of interactive activities that could be included in a program.

This group were very animated and the level of interaction and discussion was high. They were happy trying new games and were full of ideas for improving and extending the programs they had started.

Towards the end of the day, I received a message form one of the obstetricians in the previous group – she had returned home and already started using the new ideas we had presented. In the previous 24 hours she had assisted at two births – one a primip and the other expecting her 3rd baby. Both births were spontaneous, with no oxytocin used and intact perineums in both cases. She was ecstatic and so was Kirsten when I told her the good news. The final activity in the obstetrician's group asked them to consider how they could make changes:

It seems that natural birth is Iran is getting started at long last. Tomorrow we have a meeting with UNFPA and the Ministry of Health to map out the next steps and explore ways of keeping this momentum going.

Posted by andrea at November 11, 2007 11:02 AM