Genevieve Chabot of the Global Midwife Education Foundation spent four weeks with me in Morocco this spring kicking off the program.  After many lengthy meetings with officials from the Ministry of Culture, local village leaders, and the women who will be trained, the program has been expanded from a one-year to a five-year program.  The goals of this expansion are to incorporate the Moroccan Ministry of Health and their medical professionals in the trainings to foster a relationship with the local women and to include a transfer of skills component to the program that will follow each woman back to their home villages and help them apply their new skills in a hands on manner. The five year Midwife Training Program is training 12 women selected by the local associations with the agreement of their families.

Chabot will return to Morocco in October to initiate the first of the trainings which will include blood pressure training and time keeping training among other basic skills that will be needed in the more medical trainings.

In these five years, we hope to be able to demonstrate a low-cost program that the Ministry of Health will be interested in implementing in other remote, road less, and nomadic regions of Morocco.

The training will focus on:

1. Sanitation and Hygiene
2. Nutrition
3. Childbirth
4. Care of Newborn Babies
5. Identification and treatment of basic medical problems, especially infections

The main goals of the five year GMEF-ACF Midwife Training Program are to:

1. Reduce maternal and infant (0-12 months of age) mortality by 50%.
2. Increase utilization of the Zawiya Ahansal clinic and Azilal hospital for births and medical care by 100%.
3. Decrease infectious diarrhea through increased toilet use and water sanitation.
4. Provide education and supplies for hygienic home births if transportation to the local clinic or Azilal hospital is not possible.
5. Improve nutrition for pregnant women and children.
6. Educate women regarding newborn care and identifying sick newborns who need medical treatment.