Hamlin Midwives
Hamlin Midwives save the lives of thousands of mothers and babies every year and prevent countless obstetric fistulas and other childbirth injuries.
What is the Hamlin College of Midwives?
The Hamlin College of Midwives is a centre of excellence for the training of midwives in Ethiopia. It is located 10km outside Addis Ababa on the same grounds as Desta Mender, Hamlin’s Rehabilitation and Reintegration centre. When you train a midwife, you support the expansion of maternal healthcare in rural Ethiopia. They are key to a fistula-free Ethiopia.
About the Hamlin College of Midwives
Since 2007, 294 Hamlin Midwives have graduated from the College. The curriculum meets the stringent standards of the International Confederation of Midwives, including the precondition that students conduct at least 40 deliveries before they graduate.
Each student undertakes a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Midwifery and commits to working as a Hamlin Midwife for a minimum of four years following their graduation. Students are deployed back to their local areas to work in Hamlin-supported midwifery clinics, where their skills are desperately needed. Each student is on a full Hamlin scholarship, funded by generous donors like you.
This is a cornerstone of Catherine’s vision – ensuring that women in Ethiopia have access to quality healthcare to prevent fistula injuries in the first place.
Hamlin Midwives Save Lives
What is the Impact of a Hamlin Midwife?
The impact of a Hamlin Midwife is remarkable – when a midwife arrives at a Hamlin-supported midwifery clinic, new cases of obstetric fistula drop to almost zero in nearby villages. Hamlin Midwives play an essential role in preventing fistula injuries and saving the lives of hundreds of mothers and babies every year.
Based in more than 90 Hamlin-supported midwifery clinics across rural Ethiopia, these trained professionals also support, nurture and empower women while sharing invaluable knowledge, building trusting networks and transforming entire communities.
Midwifery I believe is the answer – to put a well trained midwife in every village of Ethiopia would soon eradicate obstetric fistula.
- Dr Catherine Hamlin
Access to essential midwifery care
Every year, Hamlin Midwives safely deliver thousands of babies while also providing essential antenatal care to women across the country.
The importance of these health professionals cannot be overemphasised. Every day, approximately 800 women around the world die as a result of complications from pregnancy and childbirth. If midwives were present during birth, up to 90% of these deaths could be prevented, according to the International Confederation of Midwives.
In rural Ethiopia, just 50% of women have access to medical care during their pregnancy, so the increasing number of midwives in rural communities is vital to ensure women no longer suffer for days on end in an obstructed labour. You can read our blog posts about Hamlin Midwives, as well as watch the below video of Hamlin Midwife, Mahlet, working in remote northern Ethiopia.
Hamlin’s Postgraduate Masters in Midwifery
Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia’s Postgraduate Masters of Science Degree in Clinical Midwifery at the Hamlin College of Midwives began in January 2022. All students are on a full scholarship, thanks to our generous supporters.
As a postgraduate program, the Masters consists of 55 credit hours of study and 582 hours of clinical practice that will be completed over two and a half years of study.
Key outcomes of Hamlin’s Masters in Midwifery
Reduce new incidences of obstetric fistula and maternal/neonatal deaths
Increase number of safe deliveries of newborn babies
Provide quality neonatal care post childbirth
Reduce crisis referrals to Hamlin hospitals for emergency caesarean section deliveries due to early detection of pregnancy/childbirth complications by Hamlin Midwives
Find Out More About What We Do
Project Zero
Obstetric Fistula Stories
Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Elders past, present and emerging throughout Australia and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Traditional Owners of the land and waterways on which our Australian office is situated. We acknowledge the many ethnic groups in Ethiopia and their ancestral and cultural connection to the land where our work is undertaken.