Catton Helen Nita
Primary Health Care Program, Save the Children International, Luang Prabang, Laos.
Front Public Health. 2017 Jun 30;5:145. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2017.00145. eCollection 2017.
Skills strengthening and capacity building for maternal and newborn health (MNH) providers are essential to ensure quality care for mothers and newborns. There is, however, limited research regarding what constitutes an effective model in low-income countries. The Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) has some of the region's worst outcomes for neonatal and maternal mortality. Moreover, with a 23-year hiatus in midwifery training, which ended approximately 7 years ago, there is a cadre of new and inexperienced midwives in practice without support systems, skills, or continuing professional development opportunities. Traditional didactic teaching methodologies prevail in Laos, but with little evidence of efficacy. As an alternative model, Save the Children International has been implementing a mentorship approach for MNH providers in two provinces in northern Laos since January 2016, with technical guidance and funding from the United States Agency for International Development-supported global Maternal Child Survival Program. This community case study will describe and reflect on the approach by highlighting the need and rationale for mentorship, followed by a description of the program's core components and the results observed so far. Lessons learned and the application of the approach to different contexts and health-care professionals, considering both constraints and opportunities, will be discussed.
加强孕产妇和新生儿健康（MNH）服务提供者的技能与能力建设对于确保为母亲和新生儿提供高质量护理至关重要。然而，在低收入国家，关于何种模式才是有效模式的研究有限。老挝人民民主共和国（老挝）的新生儿和孕产妇死亡率在该地区处于最差水平。此外，助产士培训中断了23年，大约7年前才结束，导致一批新的、缺乏经验的助产士在没有支持系统、技能或持续专业发展机会的情况下执业。老挝普遍采用传统的讲授式教学方法，但几乎没有疗效证据。作为一种替代模式，自2016年1月以来，国际救助儿童会在美国国际开发署支持的全球母婴生存项目的技术指导和资金支持下，一直在老挝北部的两个省份为MNH服务提供者实施一种指导方法。本社区案例研究将通过强调指导的必要性和基本原理来描述和反思这种方法，随后描述该项目的核心组成部分以及迄今观察到的结果。将讨论所汲取的经验教训以及该方法在不同背景和医疗保健专业人员中的应用，同时考虑到限制因素和机遇。
