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The Importance of Clean Cookstoves – A Personal Experience
When I was in Ethiopia last week observing frontline health workers with Save the Children I had the unfortunate circumstance of going into a home, a traditional hut, where the mother was cooking on her indoor cookstove. The smoke from the burning wood was so thick and powerful I could hardly breathe and couldn’t imagine a…
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An Optimistic View of Breastfeeding in Ethiopia
Throughout my travels to health facilities in Ethiopia last week with Save the Children I was heartened to see so many positive messages about breastfeeding on posters and printed materials for mothers to take home. I also saw several mothers breastfeeding their babies everywhere we went. In Ethiopia 52% of babies are put to the…
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Mothers in Ethiopia and Newborn Care
No matter where you are babies draw a crowd. It is no different in Ethiopia when we saw babies with their mothers at health posts and centers. One baby (seen below) wore a handmade bracelet her mother told us keeps away hiccups. Despite the mother’s use of cultural practices she still brought her baby into…
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Ethiopia’s Health Care Model, Workers
Ethiopia has its health care flaws and challenges, but what it seems to have captured is an appreciation for simplicity. Ethiopia’s health care system is very easy to understand, even though implementation and results are not easily achievable. This week I am in Ethiopia with Save the Children and its new campaign Every Beat Matters…
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Bishoftu Hospital’s Maternity Ward
In Ethiopia 90% of all expectant mothers deliver their babies at home, but there are some who are referred by frontline health workers with a recommendation to deliver at a hospital. At Bishoftu hospital, a zone hospital that is located about an hour south of Addis Ababa on the sole road towards Djibouti , 200…
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Family Planning in Ethiopia
This week I am a guest of Save the Children on an observational trip in Ethiopia. I, along with three distinguished US nurses, are here to learn about Ethiopia’s frontline health workers, the 38,000 women strong health extension workers. The health extension workers were put into place by the Ethiopian government in 2003 and now…