Revolutionizing Maternal and Infant Healthcare Provider Training in Nepal
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Margaux Charpentier from One Heart Worldwide describes their simulation-based training program for maternal and neonatal healthcare providers in rural Nepal, which uses lifelike mannequins to help nurses develop clinical skills in childbirth care. The initiative, supported by a Rotary Global Grant, aims to improve healthcare quality for nearly half a million mothers and newborns across 13 districts over two years.
Key takeaways
- One Heart Worldwide uses simulation-based training with medical mannequins to teach Nepali nurses essential skills like hemorrhage management and newborn resuscitation.
- The two-year program expects to train 104 master trainers and 1,155 skilled birth attendants while reaching 27% of Nepal's annual pregnancies in 2025 alone.
- This Rotary Global Grant project demonstrates how international collaboration between clubs funds and supports sustainable healthcare infrastructure improvements in underserved communities.
- By training healthcare providers within their own communities, the program ensures women can safely access skilled birth attendance despite geographic and infrastructure challenges in rural Nepal.
- Education and collaboration serve as transformative tools for improving maternal and infant health outcomes across entire regions.
About Margaux CharpentierMargaux Charpentier works with One Heart Worldwide, an organization dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safer for women and newborns throughout Nepal through healthcare provider training and facility improvements.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Mar. 24, 2025
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Revolutionizing Maternal and Infant Healthcare Provider Training in Nepal
Speaker: Margaux Charpentier
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Inspiration
This week's program is about One Heart Worldwide, and the work the Los Altos Rotary Club, and several others, including ours, is doing to support the training of skilled birthing assistants in rural Nepal. Watch with pride that we're part of this important, effective, and well-planned service.
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Program: Revolutionizing Maternal and Infant Healthcare Provider Training in Nepal
Speaker: Margaux Charpentier
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
This week's speaker, Margaux Charpentier, is the Grants Manager for One Heart Worldwide, an NGO whose mission is to make pregnancy and childbirth safer for all, with a particular emphasis on the underserved women and infants of Nepal. She has a background in anthropology and is currently completing a Master's in International Development from University College Dublin in Ireland. At OHW, she is in charge of communication with donors, providing grant reports for partners, and researching new funding opportunities.
Each year in Nepal, 1,500 mothers and 12,000 newborns die from preventable causes related to pregnancy or childbirth. Many health workers lack the specialized skills to deliver quality maternal and newborn care, and even those who participate in government programs such as the official certification training to become Skilled Birth Attendants lack follow-up or opportunities to gain new information or updated techniques. Further complicating these factors, health providers, particularly in rural areas, frequently cite isolation and lack of opportunities as impacting their overall satisfaction and, ultimately, a loss of skills retention.
To better address the training needs of maternal and neonatal healthcare (MNH) service providers and improve the quality of essential obstetric and newborn care services in rural Nepal, One Heart Worldwide developed, piloted and is now deploying an innovative simulation-based training and mentorship program (SBMP) for rural healthcare providers. Simulation-based approaches create rich learning environments by providing MNH providers with opportunities to practice their clinical and decision-making skills through various real-life situational experiences. Practicing in realistic scenarios builds competencies to manage emergencies and rare adverse events, directly impacting patient outcomes.
OHW, with support from a Rotary Global Grant, is currently expanding the SBMP into each of our active program implementation districts as an integral part of our intervention.
Members and guests, please welcome Margaux Charpentier!
To learn more, go to:
https://oneheartworldwide.org/
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