Students then learn what postpartum haemorrhage is and how it occurs. Skills covered include identification of risk factors, management of the third stage of labour, massaging the uterus and expelling clots, applying bimanual compression to the uterus, and applying manual compression to the aorta. Other sessions explain how to suture perineal tears, suture an episiotomy, repair cervical and high vaginal tears, and remove the placenta manually. The opening session reviews fundamentals of anatomy and physiology relevant to the management of obstructed labour. Subsequent sessions explain risk factors and offer guidance on how to identify the signs of obstructed labour.
Special emphasis is placed on use of the partograph in monitoring labour.
Skills covered include identification of risk factors, assessing pelvic capacity, diagnosing presentation and position of the baby, assessing descent of the fetal head, and recognizing obstructed labour. An explanation of puerperal sepsis is followed by sessions dealing with underlying risk factors, identification and differentiation from other conditions, prevention, and management. A session on HIV and AIDS, related to childbearing women, is also included. Skills covered include identification of risk factors, signs and symptoms, taking a midstream specimen of urine, taking a high vaginal swab, and maintaining vulval hygiene. An introduction to pre-eclampsia and eclampsia includes basic information about hypertension, proteinuria, and oedema, and explains the stages of an eclamptic fit.