OB-GYN Medical Mission Trips
OB-GYN medical mission trips from International Medical Relief emphasize the importance of skilled care before, during, and after childbirth to save the lives of women and newborns. International Medical Relief works shoulder-to-shoulder with local officials and partners to build local capacities and provide sustainable and comprehensive maternal health services and women’s health support. Emphasizing women’s health and maternal health education promotes the overall health and well-being of the community. Learn more about the women’s and children’s health services we provide.
IMR and our team of medical corps volunteers and staff help provide services to reduce maternal and newborn illnesses. It is IMR’s mission to provide and deliver sustainable health care, which is why our medical frontliners conduct several community health education classes covering a variety of topics that meet the specific needs of each community we visit.
More specifically, IMR focuses on family planning, maternal and newborn health, sexual health, infant care, and women’s care. If you specialize in one of these areas, please consider joining us on a medical mission trip as an OB-GYN volunteer.
The Need for OB-GYN Care is Great
- 94% of all maternal deaths occur in low and lower middle-income countries.
- Young adolescents (ages 10-14) face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy than other women.
- Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for 15 to 19-year-old girls globally.
Helping Babies Breathe
All women and their newborns deserve quality care at the time of birth, which is a vulnerable time when most preventable deaths occur.
Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) is a training program developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) used in developing countries to help ensure health care providers have the necessary skills and competencies to provide high quality care to newborns after birth.
Through the HBB program, IMR is training birth attendants in the essential skills of newborn resuscitation. The goal is to have at least one person who is skilled in neonatal resuscitation at the birth of every baby.
A key concept of HBB is The Golden Minute®. Within one minute of birth, a baby should be breathing well or should be ventilated with a bag and mask. The Golden Minute identifies the steps that a birth attendant must take immediately after birth to evaluate the baby and stimulate breathing.
HBB focuses on methods that all persons who care for babies at birth can learn. We want them to be able to care for healthy babies and/or assist babies who do not breathe on their own.
Teaching HBB on an OB-GYN Medical Mission Trip
On designated OB-GYN medical mission trips, IMR volunteer specialists train birth attendants and equip each member of the class with a neonatal resuscitator and a penguin suction device to help clear babies’ airways. The end goal is to create a skilled cadre with the ability to train others in their communities, resulting in a sustainable program that reduces newborn mortality.
Andrew Baldwin, MD, Helping Babies Survive Master Trainer
Helping Babies Breathe is incredibly powerful in its ability to teach basic lifesaving skills for the first minutes of a baby’s life. The education for birth attendants can dramatically reduce infant mortality rates in the developing world. I can’t wait to teach as many as possible the skills I learned!
Why Volunteer with IMR
OB-GYN Shares Her Experience in Haiti
Never underestimate your ability to make a difference in this world.
Join Us in Making a Difference.
You can join an IMR medical mission team or donate today!