Beyond the birthing suite
In a village just outside the popular Balinese tourist
destination of Ubud exists Yayasan Bumi Sehat (YBS), a natural
birthing clinic responding to the maternal and child health needs
of the region's poorest families.
AVI Midwife Mentor, Jacinta Knell writes about her efforts to
support the clinic's visionto introduce comprehensive postnatal
services.
Postnatal care is a service that has been neglected
in Bali, so there is good reason to be involved in maternal and
child health work in this part of the world. In particular,
education regarding pregnancy and what happens after a baby is born
is in great need.
The YBS clinic has expanded rapidly over the last few years due
to growing demand for maternal health services. The clinic runs on
a donation basis - quite unique in Indonesia - where people pay
what they can, and if they cannot pay, then the costs are absorbed
by the clinic. The clinic provides services for over 9,000
consultations and more than 550 births each year.
While YBS provides a range of much-needed birthing and health
services, the clinic's founder Ibu Robin Lim recognised an
increasing need for improved postnatal care, and so approached AVI
to support the development of these services.
In my role as Midwife Mentor, I have started to implement an
enhanced postnatal care program. This has involved developing new
educational materials that support an improved level of postnatal
care for mothers and newborns.
These materials also support education opportunities for the
clinic's midwives. The
materials cover the immediate postnatal phase before women return
home - a step which is encouraging midwives to spend more time with
new mothers and providing them with more information about what
they can expect when they return home.
A discharge checklist for mothers and babies to ensure that all
aspects of 'going home' education has been undertaken, is about to
be introduced. Following this, a six-week postnatal domiciliary
program incorporating clinic visits and phone calls for mothers,
will be implemented.
From a prenatal perspective, I am in the process of introducing
some simple prenatal education classes. This is a new concept at
the clinic and will educate women in:
- Looking after yourself (pre and post-birth)
- Looking after a new baby
- The importance of breastfeeding
- When to call the clinic
To support postnatal education, the YBS team is writing a
discharge booklet, which
will include parenting information on:
- What's normal for babies
- Troubleshooting breastfeeding
- What is normal/abnormal recovery post-birth
- Information for fathers
- Looking after yourself and your family
Perhaps the final activity to be undertaken will be a patient
satisfaction survey. This may take time to be accepted by my
Balinese colleagues. However, I will work to educate them on how
this step will support the clinic's efforts to improve the health
of those who come here for care.
Learn more about Yayasan Bumi Sehat at www.bumisehatbali.org