International MotherBaby Support

Wholistic Midwifery School of Southern California

Wholistic Midwifery School is coming to Africa!

Birth Worker Cultural Exchange Program and Learning Collaborative

Promoting Safe Motherhood Through Training of Skilled Birth Attendants and Health Education

Happy Mamas and Healthy Babies

Mamas heureuses et bébés en bonne santé

Furaha ya Mamm na Watoto walio na Afya

Umu nne nwere obi uto

Ilmaha Caafimaadka Farxsan ee Mamas

Awọn ọmọ inu ilera Ọmọ Mamas

Future midwife measures her mama’s belly

International Birth Worker Cultural Exchange Program

This project brings birth workers from Africa and America together in an exciting learning opportunity in Ghana, West Africa and Los Angeles, California, USA. Coming together in a cross-cultural exchange program to share unique maternity care experiences, participants will gain experiences including providing labor support and health education to birthing women in Ghana and the America.

This program was suspended because of Covid, but plan to take a cohort to Ghana in 2024-2025. If interested in joining us, send an email.

Target Audience

Ghanian Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs)
Ghanian Registered Midwives
American Certified Doulas
American and Ghanian Midwifery Students
Registered Nurses
Licensed Midwives
Certified Professional Midwives
Nurse-Midwives
Perinatal and Women’s Health Educators

Licensed Midwives, Registered Midwives, Certified Nurse-Midwives

We are recruiting clinical preceptors and perinatal health educators for this project. Please contact us if interested and send a CV or resume.

PROJECT GOALS

Train birth workers from Ghana and USA in perinatal health education and health promotion

Topics Covered include:

Human Female Sexuality
Menstrual Health and Menopause Health
Family Planning and Natural Fertility Awareness
Nutrition for Pregnancy
Prevention and treatment of STDs, HIV and Malaria in Pregnancy
Working with women who have experienced Female Genital Cutting (female circumcision)
Supporting Emotional Well-Being During Pregnancy (Maternal Mental Health)
Promoting Infant Mental Health
Teaching About The Birth Process
Skills for Supporting Mothers Through Labor (Doula skills)
Physical Postpartum Care of New Mothers
Father’s Involvement in Supporting Mothers During Pregnancy and Childbirth and Newborn Care

Upgrade and Review Skills for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), Doulas and Midwives on emergency birth skills such as:

Respectful care during pregnancy and birth
Midwifing and supporting waterbirth
Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage and Estimating Blood Loss
Helping Babies Breathe (Neonatal Resuscitation & Pediatric Life Support)
Management of Shoulder Dystocia
Management of Retained Placenta
Suturing and Repair of Lacerations
Fetal Heartrate Auscultation

Establish a Waterbirth Midwifery Care and Childbirth Education Center in Ghana (in development)

Wholistic Midwifery School is developing a Waterbirth Maternity Care and Childbirth Education Center in Keta, Ghana, West Africa. This childbearing education center will offer family childbirth education and support. We will offer student midwives experience and training in providing waterbirth support. In Los Angeles, we will offer Ghanian TBAs and Midwifery Students labor doula and midwife assistant experiences in- and out-of-hospital. In Ghana, we will offer American midwifery students and doulas the opportunity to experience and support birth in a Ghanaian hospital.

The International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization

Our work is aligned with The International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO) who has joined forces with the Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics AA Family H20 Birth (FIGO) developing a single global initiative to provide guidance and support for safe and respectful maternity care, building upon their previous work and incorporating the most recent evidence and insights into what constitutes optimal maternal and newborn health.

Launched in 2018, this initiative, The International Childbirth Initiative (ICI): 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care provides clear steps for implementing evidence-based maternity care worldwide, acknowledging the interaction between the MotherBaby dyad, Family and Environment as well as their interactions with health providers and health systems. The ICI also supports the implementation of the 12 steps and self-initiated quality improvement mechanisms that can be used to monitor process, effect and engagement in safe and respectful maternity services.

For more information, see 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care, please download here.

HAPPY MAMA HEALTHY BABY ALLIANCE – OFFICE IN AFRICA