Möhnesee/Mendefera, November 2025. In early November, a seven-member team of doctors, midwives, and nursing professionals was deployed in Mendefera, Eritrea. The goal was to further improve medical care for mothers as well as premature and newborn infants and to strengthen obstetric and neonatal care in the long term.
The focus was on practical training directly in the clinical setting. Through bedside teaching, midwives, nurses, and doctors learned together at the patient’s bedside how to safely support pregnancies, monitor fetal heart tones, and optimally care for newborns after birth. Additionally, the team brought urgently needed medications and supplies to Eritrea.
The effectiveness of this collaborative learning was demonstrated during the care of a woman in labor by German midwife Frauke Wittke together with an Eritrean colleague. When complications arose during delivery, the team made the right decisions together. The newborn was quickly stabilized, monitored in the neonatal intensive care unit, and shortly thereafter reunited healthy with its mother. Mother and child were discharged together the following day.
In addition to Mendefera, training sessions also took place at the hospitals in Dekemhare and Adi Quala, where particularly high motivation and great interest in the training were evident. To ensure the sustained progress achieved, an increase in deployment frequency to two missions per year is being pursued. “Knowledge has a lasting impact when it is shared together in everyday practice,” emphasizes project leader Prof. Dr. Oda von Rahden. “This strengthens the confidence of local teams and improves the care of mother and child in the long term.”
Archemed has been engaged in Eritrea for many years with the goal of providing medical assistance, sharing knowledge, and building sustainable structures. To continue the projects, Archemed requests donations: www.archemed.org/spenden or donation account: IBAN: DE63 4145 0075 0000 0882 03 (Sparkasse Hellweg-Lippe).