Donation provides much-needed access to fetal monitoring technology
The country of Afghanistan is often in the news but there is one startling statistic that receives little media attention. It is here that a woman dies every two hours from complications related to pregnancy.1
With a strong dedication to Mother & Child Care for nearly 50 years, Philips is committed to the UN Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality rates and improving maternal health. We have been working to bring new life – and new hope – to the clinicians and mothers in Afghanistan, who have been consumed by war and robbed of some of the most basic healthcare necessities.
Ed Myers, a software quality engineer in Andover, Massachusetts, has coordinated donations of Philips equipment as part of a variety of humanitarian missions in the region and elsewhere. Working with organizations like Assist International and Rotary International, Ed has navigated a complex web of product donations, funding, logistics and transportation challenges to provide vital monitoring equipment to the hospitals that need it most. In 2005, Ed assisted in the managing of a Medical Project through a donation from a Washington state hospital of refurbished Philips patient monitors while Philips donated medical consumables to Cure International Hospital in Kabul. This project was championed by Assist International along with Rotary International. Five years later, in 2010, he secured a donation of 16 SureSigns patient monitors for Jalalabad Public Health Hospital thru the assistance of Philips Healthcare, Assist International and Rotary International. In 2015, Philips Healthcare donated 16 fetal monitors for two hospitals in Jalalabad, Afghanistan that urgently needed the technology. For the 2015 project, Rotary International provided the funding and support for a vocational training team to provide instruction on the devices at a teaching hospital in Adana, Turkey for physicians and an engineer from Jalalabad. Today, these fetal monitors are being used at two hospitals that deliver 50 infants a day at each hospital. Combined that is 100 infants a day. They also monitor the mother for any complications, to allow for the doctors to care for the mother and infant.
“It’s been a privilege to provide hospitals in need with high-quality products that help support mothers and babies at this critical time of life and train the staff so they can deliver care for the next generation.”
Ed Myers, Software Quality Engineer, Philips
Scott Reid, a Philips employee and a nurse, donated his time to provide clinical education on the use of the fetal monitors for the Afghan doctors. In one poignant example, a woman who had two previous C-sections and had lost both babies was very worried when entering the unit for the delivery of her third child, whom she was terrified of losing. She was fortunate to receive fetal monitoring for the first time and delivered via C-section in her 37th week. This baby was healthy and survived. The parents were so stunned with their good fortune that they forgot to check the gender of the child. It was a boy.
“We deeply appreciate Philips’ continued cooperation and training supervision activities in which a total of 16 staff members were trained. Now, all the staff are in a position to utilize the fetal monitors to help care for mothers and babies. This is indeed a huge step to reduce infant mortality in Afghanistan. Special thanks to Philips for these valuable gifts of life.”
Dr. Ghazi Jamal Abdul Nasir, Director of Nangarhar Teaching Hospital in Jalalabad
Philips maternal and fetal monitoring solutions
Reliable maternal and fetal monitoring for obstetrical care Avalon now includes a wealth of technical advances in monitoring, measurement, and transducer technology that allow mothers to move about during labor during routine and high-risk deliveries.
1. http://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/health_nutrition.html By clicking to view this content, you are leaving our website to access external pages over which Philips has no control and does not endorse.
