For years, nursing and midwifery students in Kenya have relied heavily on textbooks and case studies developed in contexts far removed from their own. While these resources remain valuable, they do not always reflect the health systems, communities and clinical realities that learners encounter in Kenyan practice. It was a gap that Dr Rosemary Kawira and four other colleagues felt needed a different kind of response.
“You realize the many books we use in maternal and neonatal health, and even largely the many books we use in nursing in Kenya, are not books from our own setups,” Dr Kawira explains.
That observation became the starting point for Pearl’s Midwifery: A Casebook for Maternal and Neonatal Care, a new resource designed to bring locally relevant clinical scenarios and case studies into the classroom and strengthen how students learn to think through maternal and neonatal care. The book was co-authored by Dr Carolyne Nyariki, Dr Rosemary Kawira, Proffesor Drusilla Makworo, Dianah Kariuki and Rosemary Kanyua, bringing together expertise across reproductive, maternal health, neonatal care and nursing education.
For Dr Kawira, the project was also about leaving a lasting contribution to nursing and midwifery education. Pearl’s Midwifery is structured around cases that require learners to apply knowledge, interpret information and make decisions, much like they would in clinical practice. The book includes 73 cases that cover a broad range of maternal and neonatal care, from preconception care, throughpregnancy to childbirth, obstetric emergencies and postnatal care including the neonate. . A key aim of the book was to encourage students to reassess information and adapt their thinking to clinical situation changes. The approach reflects the authors’ broader educational goal.
“We want to enhance competency-based learning. We want to enhance problem-based learning, Case based learning fits that well” Dr Kawira says.
The book also places deliberate emphasis on neonatal care. Dr Kawira notes that conversations around maternal mortality have historically placed considerable attention on mothers, while the newborn has sometimes received less attention. By bringing maternal and neonatal cases together, the authors sought to reinforce the interconnected nature of care for both mother and baby.
Creating the book was a three-year undertaking. The five authors worked around teaching responsibilities, clinical commitments and the realities of everyday life. The result is more than a new teaching resource. It is an example of educators drawing on their own professional experience to create knowledge and tools that can be used by the next generation of health professionals.
For the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, East Africa (SONAM EA), Dr Kawira’s contribution also reflects the role faculty play beyond the classroom, through scholarship, curriculum development, mentorship and the creation of educational resources that respond to real needs in health professions education. In the context of Kenya’s growing emphasis on competency-based education, the book provides a practice-oriented resource that supports the development of clinical reasoning, decision-making and practice competencies among nursing and midwifery learners.
The collaboration also demonstrates how such contributions can extend beyond institutional boundaries, bringing together educators with different areas of expertise and professional backgrounds around a shared goal, strengthening nursing and midwifery education.
By the time Pearl’s Midwifery was launched, years of writing, reviewing and refining had culminated in a tangible resource for educators and learners. For Dr Kawira, seeing the book received by the people who had gathered to celebrate its launch provided a sense of affirmation. For students and educators who use the book, the authors hope it will encourage a more active approach to learning, one that moves beyond memorising information towards applying knowledge to complex clinical situations.
And at the heart of that work is a simple reminder from Dr Kawira.
“Every mother and every baby counts. They are not just statistics, they are lives... we all have a role. So let's take up the challenge and hold up the Pearl.”
For years, nursing and midwifery students in Kenya have relied heavily on textbooks and case studies developed in contexts far removed from their own. While these resources remain valuable, they do not always reflect the health systems, communities and clinical realities that learners encounter in Kenyan practice. It was a gap that Dr Rosemary Kawira and four other colleagues felt needed a different kind of response.
“You realize the many books we use in maternal and neonatal health, and even largely the many books we use in nursing in Kenya, are not books from our own setups,” Dr Kawira explains.
That observation became the starting point for Pearl’s Midwifery: A Casebook for Maternal and Neonatal Care, a new resource designed to bring locally relevant clinical scenarios and case studies into the classroom and strengthen how students learn to think through maternal and neonatal care. The book was co-authored by Dr Carolyne Nyariki, Dr Rosemary Kawira, Proffesor Drusilla Makworo, Dianah Kariuki and Rosemary Kanyua, bringing together expertise across reproductive, maternal health, neonatal care and nursing education.
For Dr Kawira, the project was also about leaving a lasting contribution to nursing and midwifery education. Pearl’s Midwifery is structured around cases that require learners to apply knowledge, interpret information and make decisions, much like they would in clinical practice. The book includes 73 cases that cover a broad range of maternal and neonatal care, from preconception care, throughpregnancy to childbirth, obstetric emergencies and postnatal care including the neonate. . A key aim of the book was to encourage students to reassess information and adapt their thinking to clinical situation changes. The approach reflects the authors’ broader educational goal.
“We want to enhance competency-based learning. We want to enhance problem-based learning, Case based learning fits that well” Dr Kawira says.
The book also places deliberate emphasis on neonatal care. Dr Kawira notes that conversations around maternal mortality have historically placed considerable attention on mothers, while the newborn has sometimes received less attention. By bringing maternal and neonatal cases together, the authors sought to reinforce the interconnected nature of care for both mother and baby.
Creating the book was a three-year undertaking. The five authors worked around teaching responsibilities, clinical commitments and the realities of everyday life. The result is more than a new teaching resource. It is an example of educators drawing on their own professional experience to create knowledge and tools that can be used by the next generation of health professionals.
For the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, East Africa (SONAM EA), Dr Kawira’s contribution also reflects the role faculty play beyond the classroom, through scholarship, curriculum development, mentorship and the creation of educational resources that respond to real needs in health professions education. In the context of Kenya’s growing emphasis on competency-based education, the book provides a practice-oriented resource that supports the development of clinical reasoning, decision-making and practice competencies among nursing and midwifery learners.
The collaboration also demonstrates how such contributions can extend beyond institutional boundaries, bringing together educators with different areas of expertise and professional backgrounds around a shared goal, strengthening nursing and midwifery education.
By the time Pearl’s Midwifery was launched, years of writing, reviewing and refining had culminated in a tangible resource for educators and learners. For Dr Kawira, seeing the book received by the people who had gathered to celebrate its launch provided a sense of affirmation. For students and educators who use the book, the authors hope it will encourage a more active approach to learning, one that moves beyond memorising information towards applying knowledge to complex clinical situations.
And at the heart of that work is a simple reminder from Dr Kawira.
“Every mother and every baby counts. They are not just statistics, they are lives... we all have a role. So let's take up the challenge and hold up the Pearl.”
