In sub-Saharan Africa there are simply not enough doctors to go around. So Clinical Officers (COs) are often the only people who can carry out life saving operations such as caesarean section. However, before our work, there was uncertainty about the safety and effectiveness of caesarean section when clinical officers performed the operation.
Our research, led by Amie Wilson – Ammalife’s PhD Researcher, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that the death rate was no higher for COs than for doctors but it did show that wound complications happened more often.
Now we know where to target training so that COs will be better able to do their job.
