Establishing a Pathway for Allied Health and Not-For-Profit Collaboration in Point of Care Obstetric Ultrasound Education and Practice for Midwives Delivering Life Changing Outcomes in Remote Rural Tanzania

Mr Simon Fenby3

1Mercy Hands NFP, , , 2Water for Africa NFP, , , 3Perth Radiological Clinic, ,

Simon is an Australian Senior Sonographer with special interest in Musculoskeletal and Obstetric Ultrasound. He studied Diagnostic Radiography and Medical Ultrasound at University of Leeds UK and trained St James’ University Hospital Leeds UK.

Simon is experienced in the Not-For-Profit (NFP) and Voluntary Sector with roles and activity focused on improving life outcomes for people in Australia and Overseas.

He is passionate about bringing interested people together to accomplish inspired projects that make a difference.

In partnership with Water For Africa (NFP) Simon has led the Mercy Hands Ultrasound project to see the Mercy Hands Midwife Volunteers trained in Obstetric POCUS to meet needs in remote rural Tanzania.

Presenting Author: Simon Fenby

Abstract:

The purpose of this project is to explore how point-of-care obstetric ultrasound training for midwives can improve health outcomes in remote rural Tanzania through multidisciplinary education and practice.

This project looked to bring together people who are interested in seeing the World Health Organisation Millennium Goals 4, to reduce child mortality and 5, to improve maternal health, released in remote rural Tanzania.

The main obstacle to delivering these potential benefits are limited training opportunities for midwives, low multidisciplinary collaboration for outreach purposes, not-for-profit funding issues for equipment and logistical difficulties for overseas medical missions.

Improvements in portable point-of-care ultrasound technology have delivered affordable, portable, high quality imaging that can be inserted into remote locations and deliver significant maternal and child benefits where obstetric care is minimal or absent.

The approach involved a literature review focused on previous project methods and outcomes, vision casting to not-for-profit organisations, dialogue with multidisciplinary professions and key professional bodies, sourcing training resources and practical tutoring, fundraising for technology acquisition, recruitment of midwives for ultrasound up skilling, training delivery and assessment of outcomes.

The result is allied health professionals competently up skilled to be able to assess obstetric patients with point-of-care ultrasound delivering vital clinical information in remote Tanzanian rural locations on deployment. In addition, the collaborative organisations have realised the benefits that can be delivered through combined multi-disciplinary and multi-sector collaboration.

This presentation invites the audience to explore the potential outreach opportunities within their sphere of influence and show how this can be realised for life changing outcomes.


Biography:

Biography / Simon Fenby

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