The Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Peace Avenue in cooperation with the Rotary Club of St.Marys RYD6600 plans to implement a Global Grant project worth US$189,000 in RY2020-21. The grant is to fund the establishment of the first computerized birthing simulation center in Mongolia. The childbirth simulation center is the first of its kind in Mongolia and will be installed at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. The center will provide training to medical students, OB/GYNs, midwives, pediatricians, and nurses. They will learn to function as a team to better handle problem related to birth including C-sections, hemorrhaging, breech birth positions, and numerous other critical situations encountered during the birthing process. The simulator also provides ultrasonographic training including 3D images. A second portion of the grant will include the cost of a VTT exchange of professionals between the USA and Mongolia.
Presently there are no computerized childbirth simulation centers in Mongolia to assist in training doctors, midwives, and nurses. Over 40% of the country’s population lives in Ulaanbaatar. Of the approximately 79,000 births occurring annually in Mongolia, 50% take place at all seven maternity hospitals in Ulaanbaatar. The simulation center would be used by all of the hospitals and others including all the 21 provincial birth centers. We believe this project could have a substantial impact on reducing Mongolian infant and maternal mortality rates. Just a 10% reduction in their current rate of approximately 20 deaths per 1,000 births to a level of 18 deaths per 1,000 births would mean 158 infants saved each year. The maternal mortality rate in Mongolia is 26.9 per 100,000 live births in 2017 and ranks as a medium-range country according to the WHO. We believe this stimulating center will reduce the infant and maternal mortality significantly.
We decided to establish a birthing simulation center at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences (MNUMS). Our first priority was the simulation center which would provide training to everyone who is related to this field. The Rotary Club of Ulaanbaatar Peace Avenue, the Rotary Club of St.Mary and MNUMS prepared Memorandum of Understanding and signed on it. MNUMS issued the list of purchasing equipment and the best obstetric equipment manufacturers’ names. We sent a request to those companies, got a quote, and finally selected the companies to do the purchasing. We also developed a training schedule and travel itinerary to VTT members.
The VTT plan involves sending four US midwives to assist in establishing the simulation center in Mongolia, and to raise the standards of midwifery in the country. At least one team member will be an Approved Instructor for Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) program from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Multiple team members will have experience as instructors with birthing simulation centers. The vast number of low-risk births in Mongolia are performed by midwives. Sharing US standards and techniques with those midwives, particularly those involved in training others will improve results in all births. The grant would also allow for four Mongolian midwives to travel to District 6600 to explore simulation center training and operation and midwifery practices in the US. Mongolia’s infant mortality rate is placed at over three times the U.S. rate.
After completing this project, MNUMS will continue to provide training and training materials as well. We hope that this project would help in reducing the mortality and morbidity rate of children under five, the maternal mortality and morbidity rate; and improving access to essential medical services, trained community health workers, and health care providers.
