NYAGI Project in Nepal
Indira Khatri, 23, with her second child. She lives is Thokarpa, Nepal an hour’s walk from a small clinic and 4-5 hours drive on rough dirt roads from the nearest advanced medical facility.
In 2016 and 2017 NYAGI collaborated with One Heart Worldwide to host accelerated training sessions in basic prenatal ultrasound for Skilled Birth Attendants from clinics across Nepal.
Need
Low-Income Countries vs United States Maternal Mortality
80 percent of Nepal’s population lives in remote, rural areas
Soon to be mothers must navigate their pregnancy and give birth unassisted
Checkups or treatment centers are often weeks of foot travel away
Many maternal deaths are caused by simple complications that, if triaged and planned for, could be preemptively managed.
Approach
Expert sonographers provided hands-on ultrasound training to Skilled Birth Attendants and delivered donated, re-purposed iPads with obNAV software.
This provided ultrasound confidence for the trainees plus tools for advancing knowledge and skills.
Nepalese midwives learn the obNAV educational software alongside hands-on training with their new ultrasound probes.
Impact
With NYAGI’s help, One Heart Worldwide can support basic ultrasound imaging in more than 50 remote clinics across Nepal, elevating the proficiency of its Skilled Birth Attendants and bringing much needed confidence to medical services for women and children during pregnancy and childbirth. The availability of ultrasound encourages women to come in and have a prenatal scan. When they do, it gives Skilled Birth Attendants and nurses an opportunity to also discuss nutrition and other health-related topics.