News

Mildura effort aids 3400 safer births

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 10:01:00

The work of a Mildura Base Hospital graduate midwife will help ensure a healthier start to life for as many as 3400 newborn babies and their mothers.

As part of her graduate studies, Olivia May undertook the huge task of raising $10,000 towards an international project run by the Zonta organisation, providing “safe birthing kits” to developing countries.
Through raffles, a $1000 donation from hospital operator Ramsay Health Care and by using social media to spread the word through the community, Olivia achieved her funding goal.
On Saturday, a willing band of more than 50 volunteers crammed the hospital conference room to assemble the items into 3400 kits to be distributed by Zonta.
“This program was something one of my university lecturers was involved with and was quite passionate about – I think it’s probably something every midwife is passionate about,” Olivia said.
“So it wasn’t hard to decide to focus on this program for my graduate project and achieving the funding goal was fantastic,” she said.
“But the support and encouragement from my friends, family, colleagues, Ramsay Health Care and the community has been amazing so it was great to have so many of them come along, as well as people I didn’t even know, to help in putting the kits together.”
Zonta Area Four Director Lyn Symons was also on-hand during the assembly day and was thrilled at the success of Olivia’s project.
“Each year, around 300,000 women and three million newborns die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth,” Lyn said.
“Most of the deaths occur in developing countries, and the work we do helps to enable a clean and safe birthing environment for the women and babies,” she said.
Each kit comprises a plastic sheet, soap and gloves, gauze, a sterile scalpel blade and a clean cord.
The sheet is intended to prevent the mother and baby from coming into contact with an unhygienic surface.
The soap and gloves are for the birth attendant, to prevent the transmission of germs.
Gauze is intended to clear secretion from the baby’s eyes, while the blade and cord are intended to help the attendant safely cut the umbilical cord.

The program has become so large that a stand-alone foundation has now been established to support the work, the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia.
Adelaide born-and-raised Olivia said she was excited to be staying on as a midwife at Mildura Base Hospital after the completion of her graduate year.
“It’s been a great working here, because it’s such a supportive team and I’ve had a lot of experiences that I don’t think I would have had in a metropolitan hospital,” Olivia said.
“It was a big change to move from Adelaide, but Mildura is a beautiful town to live in and I’ve loved the whole experience.”