A TEAM of 16 staff members from St John of God Hospital, Berwick, are sacrificing their annual leave to help a Vietnam village build a maternity clinic.
The hospital will fund the construction of a maternity clinic in Van Village, located in the Hoa Binh province of Vietnam, as part of its social outreach and advocacy work.
The team will head to Vietnam in October, taking with them essential medical equipment and technical expertise that they will share with the local nurses and doctor.
Director of Nursing of the St John of God Hospital, Berwick, Tony Hollamby, said the small community at present had no facilities to provide post-natal care or deal with complications.
“At present they have only a very small and poorly equipped room for delivering babies. Gynaecological diseases in women are common and many babies and children are malnourished,” Mr Hollamby said.
Mr Hollamby said 400 mothers died in childbirth per 100,000 live births in Vietnam’s remote regions, often as a result of poor access to medical facilities.
He also said the Van Village was half a day’s walk through rough terrain from the closest road – which is why a local maternal and infant healthcare facility is so essential for the village.
Construction of the new clinic will improve health outcomes for women and infants, and will be the start of a lasting program of support to provide equipment, education and training. Van Village’s 170 children will also enjoy a ‘kiddie pack’ full of goodies and simple health and oral hygiene products.
Local businesses have donated stethoscopes, pencils, toothbrushes, bags and other items to the cause.
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