International Midwife Assistance :

International Midwife Assistance

International Midwife Assistance (IMA) is a registered 501(c)(3) based out of Boulder, Colorado. IMA sends American midwives, nurses and obstetricians to communities in the developing world that are experiencing crises in maternal/infant health.

Providing high-quality and intensive training for practitioners while directly caring for local patients, IMA makes a lasting impact on the communities in which it works. The nonprofit also delivers material aid to needy areas in the form of medical supplies, medications and teaching materials; and sponsors and promotes public forums, meetings, lectures and exhibits to raise public awareness about areas experiencing crises in maternal/infant health. Our efforts directly benefit thousands of women and infants.

IMA is currently working in Soroti, Uganda, providing prenatal care, childhood vaccines, family planning and birth services for women and children living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Thousands of people live in squalid, over-crowded camps, having fled brutal violence at the hands of the Lord�s Resistance Army and the indigenous Karamojong Cattle Warriors. They lack refugee status since they are Ugandans in Uganda, and so this forgotten group is among the neediest on the planet. More than 80 percent of the IDPs are women and children, desperately in need of healthcare.

A Ugandan staff is supported by international midwives and nurses who conduct education and oversight. Together they work in partnership with the staff at the Teso AIDS Programme in Soroti, Uganda, to provide comprehensive reproductive health services to women in an effort to lower maternal and infant mortality. Local officials have noted our health clinic, called the Soroti IDP Medical and Maternal Centre, is the only of its kind in the country providing care specifically to IDPs. It is estimated that approximately 30,000 IDPs live in camps surrounding Soroti. This population increase has overwhelmed the local infrastructure, which was fragile to begin with, and has left thousands of people without access to basic healthcare. Without outside help and concern from the international community, countless women, children and babies in Soroti suffer and die needlessly each year. Please join us in helping them.

http://www.midwifeassist.org