Psychic supper to aid mums and babies in Africa - The Redditch Standard

Psychic supper to aid mums and babies in Africa

Redditch Editorial 4th Jul, 2014 Updated: 18th Oct, 2016   0

A CHANCE to connect with those in the next world could help mothers and babies in the developing world.

Members of the African Maternity Link are holding a Psychic Supper on Thursday (July 10) at The Southcrest Manor Hotel, Pool Bank from 7pm.

The evening is to raise funds for the work of the link – run by a group of midwives from the Alexandra Hospital – to improve birth outcomes in Lumley Government Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone through education and training.

As well as a chance to speak to those in the spirit world, there will be a short film on the work of the link, a buffet and authentic handmade crafts for sale.




The link has already begun to make a difference to the women and children in one of the poorest parts of the African continent.

On a visit midwives Helena White and Kathy Humpherson made earlier this year, improvements had already been made to the hospital including a new bed and cupboards for the labour room, increased supply of water, improved cleanliness and better use of documentation to monitor progress through labour.


Working with the charity Life for African Mothers they were also able to deliver supplies of Misoprostal – a drug used to treat bleeding after childbirth – to Massanga Hospital and Kroo Bay Community Health Centre, one of the poorest areas of Freetown, as well as other supplies.

They also worked alongside midwives and sharing expertise and training is already paying dividends with basic measures such as taking vital signs, listening to the baby’s heart and analysing urine now routine practice in antenatal clinics.

The pair also met with officials from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to discuss progress and future needs.

Mrs White said the visits were as beneficial to them as they were to their colleagues in Africa.

“Working in a resource poor setting enhances your basic midwifery skills that are being lost in the UK as technology encroaches on a growing number of aspects of our job. Breech deliveries are commonplace in Africa and they are shocked at the examples we give them of instances of emergency Caesarean Sections performed because of it. If we could spend more time there perhaps our skills and confidence would grow in this area too.” she said.

“As always, we are planning our next trip before we have left this one, inspired by what we have seen and learnt. ‘Little by little’ the Africans say and so it is, but it makes a big difference.”

Tickets for the psychic supper cost £15 per person and are available from Rachel Bradley on 07814 000290 or email [email protected].

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