OUTLINE
BirthLink visits Mongolia
In April 2008 two community midwives based in a midwife-led unit in Oxfordshire, Frances Barnsley and Maaike Carter, received sponsorship to visit maternity care facilities in rural Mongolia. Their objectives were to view a range of clinics and hospitals to gain an understanding of current care provision for women during pregnancy, birth and postnatally, to learn about midwives training and education, and to exchange ideas and knowledge with the Mongolian midwives. They also wanted to discern whether through BirthLink, an educational project would be feasible and if it would be welcomed by practitioners.
In December 2008 they returned to Mongolia to run two workshops – Alternative Positions for Labour and Birth, and Fetal Monitoring in Labour. These took place in the city of Ulaanbaatar and town of Muron. They had excellent attendance from both the midwives and doctors.
Following regular visits in subsequent years, the primary objective of a trip in May 2013 was to attend the National Midwifery Conference in Ulaanbatar when Frances and Maaike were invited to give a resume of their findings from previous visits, followed by a presentation on Protecting Normal Childbirth. The Minister of Health who also attended the conference gave a vote of thanks to BirthLink and the extensive work Frances and Maaike had undertaken. Full reports on this and the previous visits can be seen by clicking on the links below.
Past reports on Birthlink’s visits to Mongolia: