Basic

November 16, 2017| 00.00 clock

Well done

Kaulhausen satisfied with relief in Eritrea

Help from Germany, which is urgently needed: Prof. Dr. med. Helmut Kaulhausen worked for two weeks with a team of nine other helpers in the largest maternity hospital in Eritrea.PHOTO: hammer forum

Radevormwald. RADEVORMWALD (rue) Prof. Helmut Kaulhausen is back from his relief mission in Eritrea's capital Asmara. Twice a year, the long-standing chief physician of the Sana-Klinik Remscheid travels to the country in East Africa for the children's aid organization Hammer Forum in order to train the local staff. Also this fall, the Radevormwalder and his nine-member team worked for two weeks in the largest maternity hospital in the country. The Hammer Forum has been involved in Eritrea for 22 years. And it looks like the Orota Hospital will need help for a long time to come, because the many refugees and rigid structures in the hospital, it is only in tiny steps possible to improve the standard of obstetrics sustainably, it says in a press release ,

The team from the Hammer Forum had to hold courses and lectures especially for many beginners. Midwives, nurses, nurses and even students were taught the theory and practice of neonatal care, resuscitation and risk management of unstable children.

At Orota Hospital, Eritrea's largest clinic in the country, about 8,000 children are born each year. Also during this stay of the German helpers ten to 15 children were born during a day shift - still in delivery rooms without running water, with the help of mostly little experienced staff. It was one of the most important messages that the pediatrician, Dr. Jr., said that helping with the first few breaths can be crucial for a child's survival when it is not breathing adequately. Regina Bahr mediated. Almost every morning, children were mourned, who were said to have been born deadborn during the night shift. Reanimations or respiratory aids were often necessary during the day shift, stillbirths were very rare. By contrast, Orota Hospital does not even have a pediatrician for the newborns. In recent years, at least temporarily, a Cuban doctor was on site. In addition, many of the native midwives are demotivated in the delivery room training. Many of them have two jobs to survive financially and long commutes, which explains at least part of the limited initiative.

Even if the framework conditions are still difficult, Kaulhausen is satisfied with what could be achieved during the mission. During the two weeks, the assistants looked after 120 births and examined 300 newborns. In 167 patients an ultrasound was performed, there were 18 hours lectures for the staff. Twenty-eight mothers and five adolescents underwent surgery, including a girl who, although banned by law in Eritrea, had been circumcised as an infant. "The German doctors were fortunately able to completely restore the vagina of the girl," said the spokeswoman for the Hammer Forum, Jenny Heimann .

The next assignment for the team around Kaulhausen is planned for spring 2018. http://www.hammer-forum.de/

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