More thanks from the nurses

In order to transfer a sick patient or laboring mother with a breech presentation to the hospital, one had to call the District hospital 15 or 20 miles away. The only ambulance in the District then had to find its way to the center and back to the hospital, a four-hour trip on good days. On bad days, the transfer can take more than eight hours, if it can happen at all.

For this reason, we were eager to deliver doppler ultrasound fetal heartbeat monitors to the clinics. The devices are helpful for confirming fetal position. If the position is breech (butt first) or transverse (sideways), the mothers are transferred to the main hospital, which can perform a caesearean section if needed. The nurses were eager to have the technology because it allows them to be more certain of when to call for the ambulance.

So we delivered the devices and taught the nurses how to use them. Battery-powered and cheap, we hope to evaluate what difference they can make in the management of women in labor. And we're hoping for another success for appropriate technology.