Birzeit University Institute of Community and Public Health Joins Palestinian-Norwegian Research in Pregnancy Complications

The Birzeit University Institute of Community and Public Health is working with Palestinian and Norwegian researchers on a study and clinical interventions related to vaginal lacerations and complications in childbirth.

Birzeit University is being represented by the institute’s researcher and research coordinator Sahar Hassan, who is supervising two doctoral dissertations by Palestinian students at Oslo University. The Palestinian Ministry of Health and six government hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza are also participating in the study.

The research began with a series of extensive training sessions for all doctors and midwives working in the maternity wards at the participating hospitals. The training was conducted by international experts and trainers from Britain, who have conducted these sessions in more than 70 countries around the world.

The training sessions covered two main research themes: the first is the manner in which the research team will document findings and enter information into a special statistical program in each participating hospital. This training course took place on January 19-22, 2015, and was attended by 24 doctors and midwives. The second topic was how to diagnose and heal vaginal tearing from childbirth at the participating government hospitals.

This research project’s life cycle is three years and encompasses three stages: staff training in necessary health skills through interactive and applied training, in-service training, and use of modern technology for this purpose.