About our project

We are enthusiastic students with a passion to enrich our education. This is why we are so keen to maximise what we can learn during our two week elective placement.  As an NHS trained student we experience the benefits of our fully stocked hospitals, safe maternity care and generally consistent care across the UK. The NHS is often regarded as a bench mark globally for its unique high quality health care model.  However we are very aware that our training and experiences are not the norm across the globe, this contrast in Midwifery care and facilities is a topic we are keen to explore further.  Women and Children of Tanzania offer a specialised service for Student Midwives which enables the student to gain a full picture of African maternity care and tailor the programme to the desires of the individual attending and their passions.

Tanzania has a very stretched and underfunded maternity service, which cares for a population of 42 million.  1 in every 23 women die during childbirth due to a shortage of healthcare workers and poor equipment, which results in very basic care.  Women and Children of Tanzania aims to address the difficulty in training healthcare workers, nurses and midwives. The organisation offer work experience to NHS trained health workers and students who wish to share the privilege of the quality of their UK training. The hospital we will be placed at has 23 beds in total with 2-3 women per bed, the hospital has been undergoing measures to improve maternity care and are passionate about supporting UK students and professionals to participate in their team during the placement. 

During our time in Tanzania, we will experience the Maternity hospital environment. We will see how the staff cope with stresses such as the poor health of the population, a lack of equipment, stretched staff and the unsuitability of the hospital building to cope with the number of women and children in their care. The hospital experience will enable us to see antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care, as well as observing caesarean sections. We are also excited to go on a medical trip into the bush with a local Maasai tribe as this will demonstrate the contrast between what is deemed as good quality hospital care and minimal bush medicine.  In more rural settings, Female Genital Mutilation and polygamy are challenging issues which we shall encounter, and as UK health workers we all need to be aware of, as our ethnically diverse population grows. 

Breakdown of costs

Flights:£600 each 

Work visa: £500 each

Accommodation: £300 Total