NHS Airedale, Bradford and Leeds employee Tina Leslie, and experienced midwife Anita Jones worked with Tumaini Homes of Hope, a small UK based charity, setting up a pilot project in the Kilifi the second poorest district in Kenya. 

In just three short weeks, Anita and Tina managed to set up a project for the charity to prevent mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and AIDS.

The project also aims to reduce the numbers of mothers and babies dying from preventable conditions. Statistics show that as many as 1 in 17 women die from conditions that can be prevented such as:

• lack of access to healthcare;
• pre-eclampsia leading to Eclampsia - a condition causing high blood pressure, protein in urine and other symptoms in pregnant women;
• sepsis - a severe illness which results in the bloodstream being overwhelmed by bacteria; and
• only 44% of women have a birth attendant present at the birth.

Tina Leslie, Health Improvement Practitioner - Neighbourhoods Team for NHS Airedale, Bradford and Leeds, has described the three weeks of charity work as an experience of a lifetime.  “Working with the charity was such a rewarding experience, especially as we managed to achieve everything that we wanted to and more. In just three short weeks we were able to reach our initial aims which were to recruit, train, and integrate community midwifery support workers into two deprived areas, where they work within two local health centres.  They are supporting local midwives with the care of pregnant women in antenatal clinics and post natal clinics, gaining valuable, practical experience. The ultimate aim of the project is to go into the hard to reach communities where there are no healthcare facilities available.

“However, we went far beyond our initial target. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Health and medical staff, as well as other organisations the charity has established a free medical clinic that is available once every three months. The clinic now focusses on our target group which is pregnant women and children under five offering free health checks, particularly HIV testing and free medicines.  We look forward to hearing more about the future development of the project and hope to go back soon.”

Ongoing training is sustained and supervision implemented by the local Kenyan Ministry of Health who have integrated the service within current systems.

For their efforts both women have now been accepted as trustees of the charity, and are looking to build on their success and previous good work. To find more about the work of Tumaini Homes of Hope please visit: www.tumainichildrenshome.com/