Heather Ross

Out of Midwifery School and Hard at Work

Sarah Dwyer — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 13:46:28 +0000

This post originally appeared on IntraHealth International’s Tumblr.

Now that smile is contagious!

Rosaline Osanebi delivered these beautiful twins during her clinical rotation at the Zuma Memorial School of Midwifery in Edo State, Nigeria.

She’s one of 2,065 students who earned scholarships from CapacityPlus.

Author's name:

Carol Bales

Publication Date:

July 2014

Scaling Up and Transforming Health Workforce Education and Training for Improved Health Equity

Carol Bales — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 14:56:15 +0000

This post was originally published on the Global Health Workforce Alliance Members’ Platform. We encourage you to join and contribute to discussions like this one.

The statistics are startling: today the world is in urgent need of 7.2 million additional doctors, nurses, and midwives, according to the WHO, and by 2035 that number will rise to 12.9 million. Recent estimates show that just under one million doctors, nurses, and midwives graduate each year. At this rate, it would take more than seven years to produce the additional skilled workers currently needed. Yet in seven years, the need for health workers will be much higher.

Author's name:

Rebecca Bailey and Heather Ross

Publication Date:

April 2014

How I Fell in Love with the Sisters and Students at St. Joseph’s

Carol Bales — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 04:34:58 +0000

Last month, I met the Little Sisters of St. Francis and many of their students at St. Joseph’s Kamuli School of Midwifery in the rural Kamuli District of Uganda. This convent, hospital, and school is now celebrating 100 years of service.

CapacityPlus is helping the school achieve a decades-long goal: to provide a high-quality education leading to a diploma in midwifery to young women from the region.

Author's name:

Heather Ross

Publication Date:

February 2014

Picturing Our Work: Teaching Teachers to Save Lives

Devika Chawla — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 16:02:07 +0000

For millions of women in the world, giving birth is one of the biggest threats to their lives. Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios—approximately 630 women die for every 100,000 births. Having a trained health worker present during the birth can make the difference between life and death for both the mother and the baby. But the challenge lies in ensuring that health workers are present, ready, connected, and safe.

CapacityPlus’s recent work in Nigeria focuses on ensuring health workers are “ready,” meaning that they have the necessary motivation, competencies, and support to meet the needs of their clients and communities. When the CapacityPlus team asked faculty and administrators at schools of midwifery and health technology how the project could support them, the most common answer was, “Train our teachers.”

Author's name:

Devika Chawla with Heather Ross

Publication Date:

July 2013