Discovering the digital maternity landscape in South Africa

The 40th National Congress of the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SASOG) was held in Cape Town at the end of last year and was the first face-to-face congress event since the pandemic. The conference’s purpose was to promote excellence and equity in women’s health and to reflect on the challenges faced in providing quality healthcare to women during the global pandemic and the lessons that were learned.

K2’s Perinatal Training Programme (PTP) has seen significant international growth in the past couple of years with new customers in South Africa, Germany, Greece, and the Czech Republic and we recently welcomed the Eastern Cape as a K2 PTP customer in 2022; the first province in South Africa to join the K2 family. Eastern Cape recently launched our globally recognised e-learning platform, delivering essential learning in fetal monitoring and maternity crisis management and so we were delighted to attend SASOG to find out more about how K2’s industry-leading maternity solutions could assist clinicians in their roles and help improve outcomes for women and their babies in South Africa.

We enjoyed a very successful and well-attended show, and it was particularly great for the team including Tom Glassco, Global VP for the K2 PTP, and Liam Minter, K2 INFANT-Guardian Sales Manager to meet with so many clinicians across South Africa and beyond, to listen to their needs and demonstrate the K2 PTP and our full suite of fetal monitoring maternity solutions, including K2 INFANT-Guardian.

Our designated breakout area was a well-used space where attendees could come and relax during their breaks and discuss industry trends and topics with the K2 Team. The event was packed with medical professionals and industry experts, all eager to share their invaluable knowledge and insights on the latest developments in the field. We were also privileged to have Dr. Sibongile Mandondo join the K2 team for the entirety of the show, having been through the implementation process with Eastern Cape, she was able to offer first-hand experience of how the K2 PTP had benefitted them.

K2 PTP launched in Eastern Cape in July last year and our thanks go to Dr. Mandondo, project lead for Eastern Cape, for driving staff engagement and ensuring clinicians are benefiting from the K2 PTP e-learning resource. K2 and Dr. Mandondo recognised that there was a need for consistent, standardised e-learning, enabling the user to learn at their own pace and build confidence. Other provinces are expected to join the K2 PTP family and we look forward to welcoming them soon.

Whilst the team were in Cape Town, we had the opportunity to visit several maternity units including Tygerberg, Karl Bremmer and Mowbray Maternity Hospitals, plus the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. We’d like to say a massive thank you to the teams for showing Rob Bawn, UK PTP Sales Manager, and Christopher Kirkman, K2’s dedicated PTP distributor in South Africa around; it was fantastic to have the opportunity to visit these maternity units, to discuss their current and future requirements and any challenges that they may be facing.

The atmosphere at SASOG was incredible, with attendees networking, collaborating, and learning from each other in a truly inspiring and dynamic environment, and it was great for us to meet Obstetrics and Gynaecological clinicians as well as people from the clinical support teams working in both private and the public sector. We look forward to following up with those we met during our time in South Africa and hope it is the start of some exciting new partnerships.

To find out more about our Perinatal Training Programme click here or contact Rob Bawn for more information