The partnership project between the Klinikum Ernst von Bergmann in Potsdam and the medical centre Akademie der Gesundheit des Menschen in Kiev, Ukraine, was established with the aim of more effectively preventing neonatal brain damage in Ukraine.
Problem: Ukraine has a comparatively high rate of brain damage among pre-term and newborn infants. Children who suffer birth-related brain damage often have multiple disabilities and are dependent on care for their entire lives. Better-quality care during childbirth is needed in order to reduce the probability of birth-related brain damage.
Main activities: As a first step, 20 Ukrainian obstetricians are being trained on birth simulators in the German partner hospital. Thereafter, a hospital in Kyiv is to be fitted out with a similar birth simulator. The obstetricians trained in Germany will work as trainers on the simulator in the Ukrainian hospital. The project partners elaborate a nationwide training programme for midwives and obstetricians together.
Short-term result: Training for gynaecologists and midwives on the birth simulator is to reduce complications during childbirth and thus reduce the percentage of newborn infants with brain damage.
Long-term result: The long-term objective of the partnership is to put in place a sustainable training programme for obstetricians in as many regions of the country as possible.