University of Canberra 2024
Rebekah, a qualified midwife since 2022, travelled to Kathmandu to gain first-hand experience of the difference between maternity care in Nepal and Australia. Rebekah was keen to step out of her comfort zone and make the most of the opportunity to learn, grow, and try new things to develop in her professional career.
Having never travelled overseas before, I was keen to experience travelling while also experiencing my profession in an unfamiliar environment and under-resourced country.
The program was well organised, and there was so much support every step of the way, from the detailed website to my initial enquiry, the MyTrip portal, and in-country support!
The house was big and spacious, clean and comfortable. It was great fun meeting people from all over the world who were all experiencing the same things. The food was also amazing and so diverse!
It was amazing to meet people from all over the world. It meant I had a good group of people with whom to explore Kathmandu and Nepal. BBQ nights and meal times were always fun. They gave us a chance as housemates to debrief about our day and share stories from our experiences at the hospital and various clinics.
The Work the World team in Nepal were always so happy and helpful. The Program Manager in Kathmandu was always willing to help and offer support. I really appreciated how he would check in every day to see how I was doing and how my placement was going. The team were so welcoming and friendly during my orientation on my first day – making me feel so relaxed and welcome!
In Nepal, I observed how a patient’s family were so much more involved in patient care, both during labour and postnatally. Having multiple women all labouring in one room was also very different compared to back home in Australia.
In Australia, we encourage women who have had uncomplicated births to go home within 12 hours, but in Nepal, they seemed to stay for at least one to two days, possibly due to the lack of follow-up care. Nepali women mostly labour without pain relief, which was also very different to the norm in Australia.
My housemates and I would explore Kathmandu and the Thamel area during the evenings after placement. During the weekend, I also visited Chitwan National Park!
I enjoyed celebrating Tihar (a five-day Hindu festival of lights) and seeing all the lights from a rooftop bar in Thamel. I also visited the Monkey Temple, had movie nights at the Work the World house, and just hung out with my housemates.
One of the things from my experience that will stick in my mind forever was seeing a twin vaginal birth, which was amazing and something I will never forget!
