Edna Adan Maternity Hospital is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

charity

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

built in

Hargeisa Hargeisa ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland, a ''List of states with limited recognition, de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still considered internationally to be part of Somalia. It is also th ...

, Somaliland. It was founded by the autonomous northwestern

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

region's former foreign minister and former first lady of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Edna Adan Ismail Edna Adan Ismail (; born 8 September 1937) is a nurse midwife, activist, and was the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs (Somaliland), Foreign Minister of Somaliland from 2003 to 2006. She previously served as Somalia’s Minister of Family ...

. The hospital provides health care to people whose lives have been traumatized by war, and trains nurses, midwives, and other health workers. In addition to services and facilities relating specifically to maternal and infant health care, the hospital has diagnostic laboratory facilities and an emergency

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a clinical pathology labora ...

, and offers diagnosis and treatment for

sexually transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...

. It works in collaboration with the Ministry of Health,

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, and

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

to train a new generation of nurses and

midwives A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...

to provide

Reproductive Health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's Human reproductive system, reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Se ...

care throughout the Somaliland region. Another aspect of the hospital's mission is to combat the practice of

female circumcision Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. FGM prevalence varies ...

, which is endemic to the region. Mothers of newborn girls are counseled on the dangers of having their child circumcised; the tradition is strongly ingrained in the culture.

History

Following the

Somali Civil War The Somali Civil War (; ) is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the military junta which was led by Siad Barre during the 1980s. From 1988 to 1990, the Somali Armed ...

, the entire health infrastructure of Somaliland was effectively destroyed and there were few, if any, trained medical personnel remaining in the region. The rate of maternal and infant mortality was among the highest in the world. Edna Adan donated her U.N.

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

and other personal assets to build the hospital so that she might help to address the grave health crisis. Needing, first of all, a place to build her hospital, she asked the government for land near the city center. They responded by offering her 9600 square meters which previously had served as a garbage dump. The construction of the hospital was started on January 1, 1998 and as it progressed, private individuals, business people in Somaliland and elsewhere, as well as international organizations, also made valuable contributions enabling the hospital to become functional on the March 9, 2002.

Direct Relief Direct Relief (formerly known as Direct Relief International) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization whose mission is to improve the lives of people in poverty or emergency situations by providing medical resources. The charity provides emerge ...

describes the hospital as Somaliland's premier referral center for obstetric emergencies. The hospital trains nurses and midwives under the close supervision of Mrs. Ismail, herself a trained nurse, whose residence is inside of the hospital. The hospital is supported by two charities: The Edna Adan Foundation first became a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

in 2016 in the UK. The oldest charity, established in 2000, is the non-profit Friends of Edna's Maternity Hospital; it maintains an endowment fund to ensure the continuation of Edna's work long into the future.

References

External links

* *
The Terror of Motherhood in Somaliland

On The Issues On the Issues or OnTheIssues is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information to American voters on American candidates, primarily via their website. The organization was started in 1996, went non-profit in 2000, and is ...

Saving Somaliland
radio interview

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On Maternal Mortality, Why Africa Falls So Far Behind
article at RH Reality Check * {{Authority control Hospital buildings completed in 2002 Hospitals established in 2002 Maternity hospitals Maternity in Somaliland Organisations based in Hargeisa 2002 establishments in Somaliland Hospitals in Somaliland

History

See also

References

External links