It was while working as a midwife in a Karachi Hospital that Neha Mankani realised that relatively small sums of money could make the difference between life and death for so many of the women she cared for:
“Many a time, I saw someone crying outside the labour room because they had run out of cash to pay for (life-saving) blood. I often meet people who are in very desperate situations because of unanticipated emergencies.’
Once when a newborn was very sick she asked a grandmother to urgently take a sample of a baby’s blood to be tested. ‘When she told me she would try to arrange the money overnight I decided an emergency fund needed to be in place.’ Neha sent out a Facebook message, thousands of dollars were donated and she set up the rapid response ‘Mama Baby Fund’ which helped 150 families at the hospital with emergency needs within its first six months.
Now Neha – a graduate of the ICM Young Leaders’ Programme – is President of the Karachi branch of the Pakistan Midwives Association. She and her fellow midwives face many challenges with high maternal death rates and low-quality training. Pakistani midwives often lack not only skills but experience and confidence. Neha’s response was to set up a mentoring initiative to ‘buddy’ new midwives with their seniors, building the skills of midwife graduates to cope with obstetric emergencies, while also learning financial literacy and holistic woman-centred care.
‘A big part of our role as midwives is to provide compassionate care during this difficult stage of their lives when they face not only physical but emotional challenges.’
The results of the initiative are clear to see. Two years on and midwife graduates of the programme now have better skills and more confidence, partly gained from using video training tools such as podcasts in local languages which have been developed by Neha. They are also being sought after to lead other maternal and newborn health initiatives in both the private and public health sectors. Meanwhile women are enjoying better access to services in the region, including a boat health clinic which provides them with postnatal care and breastfeeding support.
Neha now regularly participates in global webinars and events to voice the many issues women are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a powerful and articulate advocate for the pivotal role of midwives in women’s lives during the pandemic and beyond: ‘As midwives we celebrate with women who have a healthy baby, and we also mourn with those who experience loss.’
