Caritas CR trained 20 midwives and nurses before the end of the year 2013 in Zambian medical centres. It contributes to the amelioration of local medical care that seeks to serve the mothers and newborn children.

Experienced teachers from the Lewanika School of Midwifery and medical personnel from the Lewanika General Hospital trained the medical personnel from the centres Mongo Urban and Mongo Prisons. Nurses and midwives could thus perfect their actual theoretical knowledge and also their gained new practical skills in the domain of prenatal care, prevention against infections, urgent obstetric and newborn care, vaccination, nutrition of nurse.-child and babies, and prevention against the transmission of the illnesses from the mother to the child (including HIV), complex medication of childhood diseases. The medical personal was also informed about new protocols and sending of the patients to the Lewanika General Hospital, where they have to transport themselves and also about the right to use the equipment and devices.

One of the participants of the seminar, Mrs. Laiza from the medical centre of Mongo Urban said this about the training: “Once when I was doing in our centre manual extraction of the placenta to one mother I was all by myself and there was no one to help me. I had to call the security guard who was even not near to bring me the medicaments from the fridge in the other building. First he brought me a wrong medicament. I sent him there again and said him to bring me all the medicaments that will be there. But I lost a lot of precious time. But thanks to the urgent obstetric and newborn care training I know that I have first to prepare all the needed medicaments in the delivery room and that I can ask for help anybody even for example the relatives waiting outside so that I do not put in danger the mother by wastage of time.”

Mrs. Threse from the Hospital Mongo Prisons, another participant of the training, evaluated the training by the words: “Only selected personal from our centre takes part on different trainings. But Caritas CR invited us all and so we discovered many utile things for our work. For example, I was for the first time trained in integrated management of the children hospitals.”

The training helped also to enhance the communication among the different institutions which in spite of their geographical neighbouring collaborates rarely. During the training many problematic topics rise up in hospitals because of decreased wareness about the right procedures, were given discussion and some solutions were proposed. The implementation of the Lewanika School of Midwifery can ensure the supervision about these problems also in the future. The midwives-students can be advised of these topics already during their studies and during their practices in medical centres where they are taught by trained nurses and midwives.

Trainings and the ensuring of the better collaboration among different institutions has undoubtedly had a positive influence on the care of the mothers and children. Project financed by Czech Development Agency has continuously since 2014 supported the trainings of medical personnel, midwives, communinity volunteers, and the inspection of Czech medical team and other support of the Lewanika Hospital and School of Midwifery.