"The responsibility of carrying and bringing a new life into this world is one that cannot be taken lightly."
GLORIA ESTEFAN
About Ubomi Buhle and the work we do
Understanding Birth Outcomes from Mothers and Infants
Building Healthcare by Linking Exposures
Ubomi Buhle is a national project aimed at improving our understanding of what exposures during pregnancy, such as medicines, substances and diseases, can result in poor birth outcomes e.g. birth defects, low birth weight, stillbirth, premature birth and neonatal death.
OUR MISSION
The goal of the Ubomi Buhle project is to establish a National Pregnancy Exposure Registry (NPER) across 3 provinces (Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng) in South Africa. The project will employ a series of health system strengthening approaches, to monitor the impact of targeted obstetric, therapeutic and clinical interventions, as well as infectious and/or environmental exposures in pregnancy on adverse maternal and birth outcomes.
The A1 size National Pregnancy Exposure Registry Facility Notice Poster
THE PROJECT'S GOALS
Short term:
Develop and disseminate midwife training materials on good antenatal and postnatal practices and to develop a platform for monitoring the safety of medicines in pregnancy throughout South Africa
Long term:
To ensure sustainability of this monitoring platform while building a culture of medicine safety awareness among pregnant women and their health care providers including policy-makers.
Medium term:
To build capacity in maternal and neonatal care and to seek funding for continued support of the project.
The Ubomi Buhle Team
Prof Lee Fairlie
Co-principal investigator
MBChB, DCH, FCPaeds (SA), MMED
Director of Maternal and Child Health
The Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI)
Dr Diane Lavies
National Project Manager
MBChB, DMH
Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research (CIDER), University of Cape Town (UCT)
Dr Faeezah Patel
Site lead, Hillbrow
MBChB
Shandukani Research Centre
The Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI)
Mrs Otty Mhlongo
Site lead, KwaZulu-Natal
B.Cur, Diplomas Gen,Psych,Comm, Midwife, PGD HIVCl in Management
Shandukani Research Centre
Deputy Director: PMTCT, HAST unit, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health
Dr Emma Kalk
Site lead, Gugulethu
MBBCh, PhD, MPH
Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research (CIDER), University of Cape Town (UCT)
Dr Heidre Bezuidenhout
Lead in developing training materials
MBChB, DCH, MSc (Child neurodevelopment), FCMG, MMed
Dr Ushma Mehta
Co-principal investigator
B.Pharm, Pharm.D, DrPH
Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research (CIDER), University of Cape Town (UCT)
Dr Karl Technau
Site lead, Rahima Moosa
Mother and Child Hospital
MBBCh, MSc (Med), PhD
Empilweni Services and Research Unit (ESRU), Dept of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)
Dr Portia Mutevedzi
Site lead, Soweto
MSc, PhD
The Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics (VIDA) Research Unit of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)
Dr Aung Myint
Site lead, KwaZulu-Natal
MBBS, DO(SA), PGDip in HIV (Natal), M.Med.Fam.Med (natal), PhD
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital (PMMH)
Prof Amy Slogrove
Site lead, Worcester
MBChB, FCPaed(SA), MMed, PhD
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University
Dr Helen Malherbe
Lead on the birth defect notification app development
PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons)
Rare Diseases SA (RDSA)
Midwife Training
These are the Ubomi Buhle midwife training materials developed so far by the team and are currently being used for teaching.
Ubomi Buhle Partners
We thank our sponsors and partners for making the Ubomi Buhle Project possible.
BECOME A SPONSOR
If you would like to become a sponsor to the project
Contact Us
UBOMI BUHLE
4th floor, Fairland House,
364B Victoria Road,
Salt River,
Cape Town,
South Africa
Tel: +27 834508616