My initiatives:
- Established social enterprise, stand alone Birth cum Reproductive Health Care Centre partnership with 11 female health professionals in 2007. To learn about Birthing Centre visit http://www.apskendra.org.np/target.php.
- Took lead role for the establishment of Midwifery Society of Nepal in February 2010. To learn about Midwifery Society of Nepal visit http://www.midson.org.np/.
- Ongoing collaboration with the foreign midwives and midwives faculty members for foreign student midwives elective placements in Nepal.
Factors that persuaded for the establishment of the Birthing Centre (published in Midwifery Today, Issue 92, Winter 2009/2010 accessed from https://midwiferytoday.com/mt-articles/factors-that-persuaded-nurses-to-establish-a-maternity-care-centre-in-nepal/)
After I completed my master degree I decided not to go again in the district to work thinking that I have adequate field experience so now I need to work at the central level to influence the policy level. Only having field level experience getting job at the central level was quite difficult so I joined private academic institution and started to teach bachelor level Public Health and Nursing students. But while teaching them I was not satisfied in what I was doing because of the mushrooming private colleges students are finding difficulties in getting jobs and also students had to compromise with their quality of education due to mushrooming private college owners’ income generating attitudes.
There were various compelling societal and professional values and ethos, which triggered me to take initiative for the establishment of the first and only nurses led birthing centre in Nepal. These include almost none existence of quality cost-effective basic maternal and child services serving to target urban poor families; crowded and over loaded tertiary level first and only maternity hospital, Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital in the country with normal pregnancies and laboring women; limited availability of and high demand of potential skilled birth attendants training sites in the country in order to produce large number of required skilled birth attendants in achieving millennium development goals 4, reducing child mortality and 5, improving maternal health; limited clinical placement sites for nursing students to practice midwifery skills; low self-esteem of nurses; and newly graduated nurses were facing problems in finding out jobs or place even to do volunteer work.
Besides, having being involved more than 15 years in development sectors in improving maternal and child health status in the country I recognized the challenges projects are facing for their sustainability due to funding constraints and also lack of ownership and accountability of professional in their work. So, I was motivated to initiate social enterprise initiative as employees as shareholders and owners of the organization to inspire them to contribute to their society by empowering women, creating employment opportunities, ensuring financial sustainability of the initiative and expansion of services in rural areas.
There were various compelling societal and professional values and ethos, which triggered me to take initiative for the establishment of the first and only nurses led birthing centre in Nepal. These include almost none existence of quality cost-effective basic maternal and child services serving to target urban poor families; crowded and over loaded tertiary level first and only maternity hospital, Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital in the country with normal pregnancies and laboring women; limited availability of and high demand of potential skilled birth attendants training sites in the country in order to produce large number of required skilled birth attendants in achieving millennium development goals 4, reducing child mortality and 5, improving maternal health; limited clinical placement sites for nursing students to practice midwifery skills; low self-esteem of nurses; and newly graduated nurses were facing problems in finding out jobs or place even to do volunteer work.
Besides, having being involved more than 15 years in development sectors in improving maternal and child health status in the country I recognized the challenges projects are facing for their sustainability due to funding constraints and also lack of ownership and accountability of professional in their work. So, I was motivated to initiate social enterprise initiative as employees as shareholders and owners of the organization to inspire them to contribute to their society by empowering women, creating employment opportunities, ensuring financial sustainability of the initiative and expansion of services in rural areas.
