Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a well-known international humanitarian organization that provides medical support where the need is greatest. Every year, the organization provides emergency medical care to millions of people caught in disaster or crises in some 70 countries around the world. To meet the needs of these populations, MSF seeks out qualified health practitioners, and pays them to provide the services they are passionate about, including midwifery. In this video blog, Jean Stowell, a MSF midwife from the United States, shares why her experience in Nigeria is meaningful and gives advice to those seeking to do similar important work.
Interested in Working As A Midwife Abroad?
Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) seeks Nurse-Midwives and Certified Midwives to work in its field projects.
MSF recruits medical, administrative and logistical support personnel to provide medical care to people in crisis in nearly 60 countries worldwide. Every year, around 3,000 MSF field staff provide lifesaving medical assistance to people who would otherwise be denied access to even the most basic health care.
Whether an MSF project is a response to an emergency or longer-term, provision of reproductive health care will very often be a component.
Among other reproductive health activities, MSF teams conduct antenatal consultations, assist in deliveries–including Caesarean section, provide prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) treatment to HIV-positive pregnant women, and care for patients suffering from sexual violence-related injuries. Additionally, a number of MSF programs offer specialist obstetric repair surgery for women with vaginal fistula.
As a midwife with MSF, your experience in both complicated and normal deliveries will be essential. You could be involved in setting up a mother-child health department in a rural clinic, providing reproductive health care from mobile clinics, or treating patients in an urban hospital. Your training abilities are crucial because you may be assigned to help local midwives develop new skills. At the same time, you will need to learn cross-cultural issues surrounding childbirth.
Find out if you meet the requirements and how to apply to work with MSF by visiting the Doctors Without Borders website.
Need more midwifery experience abroad before you can apply for MSF?
Birth Institute programs, such as Study Abroad and International Facilitator Training, provide key theoretical foundations and clinical experience to build any midwife or aspiring midwife’s skill set in preparation for working with organizations like Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)! LEARN MORE and begin building your resume today!