Norfolk Nurse delivers much needed help to El Salvador mothers

Sharon Stone

A Neonatal nurse and midwife from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is traveling to South America to help new and expectant mothers.

The visit in May will be Sharon Stone’s third visit to the country to assist the hospital in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality.

The hospital based in El Salvador has 15,000 deliveries a year with 400 beds compared to NNUH’s 1,200. San Salvador is the most populated city in Latin American and the birth rate is increasing year on year. The country does not train midwives and babies are delivered by nurses or doctors with limited experience in obstetrics.

The visit will focus on staff and parent teaching and training at the hospital and in the community to teach the importance of obstetric emergency management and the care of sick new-born babies.

Previous visits by midwife Sharon Stone, as part of a team of six from the Addenbrookes Abroad Charitable scheme, have seen positive results in terms of a reduction in maternal morbidity, training in sepsis care, reduction in haemorrhaging, improvements on the neonatal intensive care ward in terms of noise and light reduction, increased parental contact and kangaroo bonding with parents now able to spend around eight hours a day with their new-born.

Sharon Stone, NNUH Neonatal Nurse and Midwife said: “It is a great experience to be able to share expertise and to see how healthcare is delivered elsewhere in the world. Each time we visit it is wonderful to see improvements they have been able to introduce as part of the training we have delivered.”