ITW Celebrates Nawanyago Health Clinic III’s 50th Anniversary!

Imaging the World (ITW) and affiliates Imaging the World Africa (ITWA) and Imaging the World Consortium for Health (ITW CHI) are delighted and proud to celebrate Nawanyago HC III’s 50th Anniversary with our friends and colleagues!

Imaging the World was founded as a 501c3 non-profit organization in Vermont, USA, in 2008. At that time, the founders, Dr. Kristen DeStigter and Dr. Brian Garra had developed the methodology and technology for what would later become a foundational program to improve access to obstetric ultrasound in the most rural areas of the world. They knew that it would work to help save the lives of mothers and babies, but were looking for a good partner.

In 2009, they visited Kamuli Mission Hospital for the first time. With Dr. Alphonsus Matovu, they developed a “hub and spoke” model to deliver point-of-care obstetric ultrasound at the lower level facilities (the spokes) to identify complications of pregnancy early enough to get mothers to safe deliveries at Kamuli Mission Hospital (the hub).

When we were introduced to Sr. Njeri Angela, we knew that we were in the right place to have a successful, sustainable outcome. She immediately became a champion for the programme and could see that the scans would give the front-line practitioners the additional medical knowledge to take better care of their community. Imaging the World brought the technical know-how, including equipment and our “obstetric sweeps protocol (OSP)” that helps to capture all of the anatomy of the pregnancy on the scan, as well as the training and continuous quality management and supervision. Sr. Angela and her team brought expert nursing skills, as well as community engagement and the passion to serve, which were all vital to our success.

The ITW programme went live at Nawanyago HC III in 2010, and the formal registration of Imaging the World Africa (ITWA) soon followed, with an expert team in Kampala that has supported the programme for the last 15 years!

We are so proud of the outcomes that our partnership has brought with 5 clinical providers trained in point-of-care obstetrical ultrasound over the years. Nawanyago has performed almost 15,000 obstetrics and gynecological scans to date – that is 30,000 lives directly impacted and 120,000 lives indirectly impacted at Nawanyago alone!

We were able to partner with Nawanyago to collect important data for outcomes (IRB and UNCST approved) that confirmed that 30% of all scans detect a finding that changes the birth plan for the mother, such as twins, breech foot-first presentation, or a problem with the placenta. We noted that we were able to give accurate pregnancy dating to help guide the delivery plan, and women were getting referred appropriately to the hospital in time. We showed a “magnet effect" of the scan at Nawanyago with the new technology. Reliable and accurate results increased the community’s trust in the care provided at Nawanyago. In fact, women came from other surrounding districts to get their scans at Nawanyago, performed by Sr. Angela! Women returned for ANC and delivery at an increased rate of 70%, and we showed improved testing and treatment of the co-morbidities of pregnancy because the women were returning for the scan. Moreover, their male partners started attending with them! This was a first for Uganda!

Nawanyago was the first and foundational site for implementation of the ITW programme. Based on the success at Nawayago, ITW and its affiliates have expanded to many other districts in Uganda, Malawi and Kenya, positively impacting the lives of so many. Sr. Angela has grown professionally from the Registered Midwife we met in 2010, to an Advanced Sonographer, and then to get her Bachelor’s Degree as  Medical Imaging Technologist this year. She continues to assist in the ultrasound education of midwives and nurses in Uganda, and earlier this year traveled to Kenya with the newly established Imaging the World Consortium for Health to train 20 midwives there in point-of-care obstetric ultrasound! There’s no question that she is giving back in a meaningful way. The reach of Nawanyago is tremendous.

Imaging the World and Imaging the World Africa hope to reach 15 million people by the year 2030. We have been blessed in our partnership with Sr. Angela, Dr. Alphonsus Matovu, Kamuli Mission Hospital, the DHO in Kamuli, the Diocese of Jinja, and the entire community around Nawanyago.

Nawanyago Health Centre III, Congratulations on your 50th Anniversary – we look forward to working with you for 50 more years and beyond!

With all our love and support,

Imaging the World, Corp. USA
Imaging the World Africa
Imaging the World Consortium for Health