Valorizing the challenges and hopes of midwives in South Sudan
In Spring of 2019, SMS II in collaboration with the South Sudanese Nurses and Midwives Association Canadian Association of Midwives launched the first instalment of Labour Pains, a projected three-part series of comic books based on the real life experiences of midwives and student midwives in South Sudan. The beautiful illustrations have been created by Mona Sharma.
The series is not only a means of valorizing the work of midwives and promoting midwifery as a profession in the fragile context of South Sudan, it will also serve as a training tool on various hard and soft skills, such as dealing with a PPH and infection prevention, but also Active Listening, conflict resolution and self empowerment.
Part One chronicles the experiences of Keiji, a preceptor returning from a recent leave. Due to conflict in her region that saw the death of her husband and destruction of her family home, Keiji is forced to relocate and rebuild a home for herself and family twice. During the course of her day, Keiji faces the day to day challenges such as transportation issues, conflicts with her colleagues, power outages, and of course, births.
