Rutgers Nursing Magazine - Summer 2020

and support candidates from communities, working with family members to help them understand what the program entails so that families, too, can offer support. After the two-year period of study, the women return to serve in the areas they came from. “Because they live within the community,” Iwu says, “they’ll have increased access to pregnant women within those communities.” Not only will they have an intimate knowledge of the culture and needs of their clients, they’ll also be more likely than outsiders to garner the trust of those clients. Student midwives will be trained to provide prenatal services, home visits, routine deliveries, and follow-up care for both mothers and children, including infant immunizations. Adapting to COVID-19 Given the current global COVID-19 pandemic, a community midwife’s role in education and disease prevention is all the more crucial, said Iwu. In adapting to these conditions, COVID education and care are quickly becoming part of the training curriculum. Iwu, who is the president of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses in North America, said obstetric and pediatric profession- als recently had a Zoom meeting with the Nigerian Nursing Board education committee to develop a protocol for labor and delivery, and post-partum care for COVID-positive pregnant women and their babies. This included a live demonstration of appropriate PPE for midwives, and protocols for disinfection, triage, treatment, and home care. Giving Back Through Research This research will be implemented in four African countries: Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Sudan, with help from the nonprofit International Rescue Committee and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Iwu will be the principal investigator in Nigeria. Iwu is uniquely equipped to run the Nigerian arm of the program. Before receiving her BS in Nursing and MSN with a Family Nurse Practitioner specialty from Rutgers, Iwu went through basic nursing and midwifery training in Nigeria. Her participation is, among other things, an expression of personal and professional gratitude. “Having migrated to and studied in the U.S.,” she says, “I look at my work in Nigeria as a way to give back the skills and knowledge I’ve gained here.” n R U T G E R S N U R S I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 12 / 13 O pposite Page, (L-R): A mother-to-be during a prenatal visit in Nigeria. In Nigeria, children attend a community health event. Iwu (center) with health care colleagues at a primary care center in rural Benue State.