My name is Abby Hickinbotham, I am a Staffordshire student midwife. I currently train in a large hospital in Stoke-on-Trent. On September 2nd 2018 I will be travelling to Nepal for 4 weeks to a beautiful village in Pokhara, which is nestled at the feet of the Himalayan Mountains with a company called Work the World. The hospital I will be working at will be very different to any hospital here in the UK. Resources are minimal, confidentiality and privacy for patients is lacking and culturally very different to the modern hospital environment I’m used to at the Royal Stoke in Staffordshire England.

With increased levels of birthing complications and busy wards there will be plenty of learning opportunities in Nepal to hopefully empower me as an aspiring midwife and enhance my learning and understanding of different midwifery practices. The maternity department in Nepal sees an average of 30 babies born every day! That’s almost 11,000 a year born not including any baby blooms. However, with resources lacking many of these births result in; malpresentation, asphyxia, breech deliveries and therefore neonatal resuscitation, maternal collapse, postpartum haemorrhage, and further birth complications regularly occur.

As you can imagine this would be terrifying for any mother going through the already painful experiences of child birth. It is my aim and ambition to deliver high standard women centred care to the women and families I embrace in the hospital environment. Whether that means supporting them through labour, upholding their dignity and privacy or providing information, advice and a friendly face in clinic, I want to make a difference! Please help me get there to make this difference to so many women and families.

Thank you for you support