Fareeda Tinorgah Yelgie

In January 2018, Maternity Foundation started a pilot project including 58 midwives in the Northern Region of Ghana. Together with the local NGO NORSAAC and Ghana Health Service, the midwives and their leaders attended a training on how to use the Safe Delivery App.

Before the training, the midwives completed a confidence level test and a knowledge test based on the content in the Safe Delivery App. After just three months of using the app, their average knowledge level had increased by 40 percent, and the midwives reported to feel more confident in their work.

One of the midwives in the pilot program is Fareeda Tinorgah Yelgie, who works at Tolon Health Centre in the Northern Region of Ghana. They are just two midwives at Tolon Health Clinic, and together with her colleague, Fareeda, she delivers around 80 babies every month.

We talked to Fareeda about a significant case, where the Safe Delivery App helped her diagnose and save a baby that started to get sick immediately after delivery.

“I had delivered a baby successfully in the middle of the night. The mother was doing well, and the baby was ok. After 30 minutes, the baby started crying. For three good hours, the baby was just crying non-stop and was refusing to breastfeed. The baby became very warm to touch, the temperature was about 39.

As a midwife, it’s very difficult to transfer such cases to the hospital, especially when it’s at night – even at daytime, we don’t have cars to transfer our clients. I couldn’t transfer the baby, and I was starting to get confused. The pressure was mounting on me because the baby wasn’t feeding, it was crying, and its temperature was above 39. The mother became worried, and so did her relatives. I had no one to communicate with.

I took the baby and my phone and went the labor ward room. Because if you’re holding your phone they might think that you’re not showing any concern towards the baby. I went inside the labor room, I opened the Safe Delivery App and I found something that was of help to me. The reason why the baby was crying could be due to low glucose levels. I had 5% dextrose, so I gave it to the baby. Instantly, the baby relaxed for a while. After ten minutes, the baby started crying again. So I thought, okay the 5% isn’t enough. I woke up my medical assistant and asked her to give me 10% dextrose, which she did. I went to the baby and gave it 10ml. When I gave the 10ml, the baby stayed quiet for 15-20 minutes and the temperature came down. Under normal circumstances I would have referred the case – normally it’s the only thing left to do.

Thanks to the Safe Delivery App, I was able to manage the complications and I observed the mother and baby until the next day. Finally, I got the baby to breastfeed, the temperature came down to normal, and both mother and baby were happy.

The stress on me came down and I felt happy.
Thanks to Safe Delivery App, I was the hero of that night.“