Perinatal Palliative Care Workshop in Durban
Saturday 26 October 2024

Dr Julia Ambler invites you to learn more about perinatal palliative care and why it is so valuable.

When

Saturday 26 October 2024 from 08:30 – 16:00
We have a very full programme. The workshop will start promptly at 08:30 so please plan to arrive between 08h00 and 08h30 so as not to miss anything!

Venue

Sica’s Guest House & Conference Centre, Westridge, Durban

Get Directions

Registration fee

R450 per person
Registration covers the workshop, lunch and refreshments.

Who should attend?

This workshop will focus on providing palliative care from the time of a diagnosis of a life-threatening or life-limiting condition of the fetus or the baby. We welcome anyone who may be involved in the care of a mother and her child during pregnancy, birth and post-natal period, including but not limited to:

  • Parents
  • Healthcare providers such as doctors, midwives, nurses, etc.
  • Social workers
  • Therapists
  • Genetic Counsellors
  • Clinical Geneticists
  • Funeral Directors and employees
  • Bereavement Doulas

Speakers /Panellists

Speakers, panellists and workshop facilitators will include:

  • Sr Tracy Rawlins (Education & Training Manager – PatchSA)
  • Dr Julia Ambler (Children’s Palliative Care Doctor – Umduduzi)
  • Tracey Brand (Medical Social Worker – Umduduzi)
  • Dr Nicolette Brown (Neonatologist)
  • Dr Samantha Govender (Paediatrician)
  • Nokulinda Mkhize (Traditional Healer/Author)
  • Nonkululeko Shibula (Doula/Bereavement Facilitator)
  • Sr Nelisiwe Mtolo (Nurse – Umduduzi)
  • Sr Ruth Davidge (KZN Neonatal Programme Manager)
  • Dr Nox Mbadi (Paediatric Head -Addington Hospital)
  • Dr Kas Govender (Specialist Obstetrician & Gynaecologist)
  • Sr Marlene Nadesan (Genetics Nurse)
  • Dr Nadiya Frank (Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

CPD Points

6 General and 1 Ethics CPD points have been allocated for HPCSA registered participants.

Please indicate on the registration form if you need CPD points and provide us with your HPCSA Registration number. 

Collaborating Organisations

Workshop Facilitators / Speakers / Panellists

Dr Julia Ambler
Medical Director at Umduduzi

Dr Julia Ambler is the co-founder and Medical Director of Umduduzi Hospice Care for Children. In her role, she consults in children’s palliative care, trains health professionals and is a sessional lecturer in the Dept. of Paediatrics at Nelson Mandela Medical School, UKZN.She holds the only Paediatric Palliative Care post within the Department of Health (DoH) in South Africa working 10 hours per week at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. She is passionate about holistic care, comfort and ensuring the best quality of life for children with serious illness and their families.

Sr Tracy Rawlins
Education Manager at PatchSA

Tracy Rawlins is a qualified professional nurse, midwife and health educator. Her experience in caring for the terminally ill in her community laid the foundation for her qualification in adult palliative care but her heart and passion has always been in working with babies and children. She successfully completed her post grad diploma in Paediatric Palliative care medicine in 2017 cum laude. She is the Education and Training Manager at PatchSA and is an instructional designer and facilitator of the Patch Academy online courses.

Nokulinda Mkhize
Sangoma and Author

Nokulinda Mkhize is a sangoma and mother of 4. She has been practicing as isangoma since 2008 and is an authority in the realms of African cultures, indigenous spiritual knowledge and cosmologies. Combining her experience as isangoma, academic knowledge, creativity and media expertise she has shared and taught extensively on ancestral, cultural and spiritual practices in the modern professional, personal and community contexts. This experience and expertise led to the publishing of her first book Ancestory: Ancient lessons for Modern Life in 2022. She pioneered the ever-evolving niche for izangoma, including using digital resources to expand the scope of practice of ubungoma.

Dr Samantha Govender
Paediatrician

Dr Samantha Govender qualified as a Paediatrician with a Diploma in Child Health and MMed from UKZN were she also completed her undergraduate degree in Medicine in 2007. Samantha is based at General Justice Gizenga Mpanza Regional Hospital in KwaZulu Natal.She has a special interest in Paediatric Palliative care and completed the Postgraduate Diploma in Paediatric Palliative Medicine through UCT in 2017. She is passionate about advocating for palliative care for her patients as well as educating healthcare workers about the benefits of palliative care. Dr Govender has recently been elected as the Chair of the Board for PatchSA.

Tracey Brand
Medical Social Worker

Tracey Brand is the Director and co-founder of Umduduzi Hospice Care for Children. She is a medical social worker who is involved in teaching and training doctors, nurses and social workers in paediatric palliative care. She is an honourary lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics, Nelson Mandela Medical School at UKZN and also provides direct services to children and their families.

Nonkululeko Shibula
Bereavement Doula

Nonkululeko Shibula is a certified doula and founder of Umzanyana Birth Services, a KZN nonprofit. She provides comprehensive childbirth education and perinatal bereavement support to families in need and offers empathetic support to families who have experienced the loss of a child. Drawing from her personal experience with stillbirth, she is uniquely positioned to create a safe and supportive environment for grieving families. She is a board member of the International Stillbirth Alliance, and a published blog author for the Healthy Newborn Network. Nonkululeko advocates for improved maternal and child health outcomes and parents’ voices on issues surrounding stillbirth taboos in Africa.

Dr Nicolette Brown
Paediatrician/ Neonatologist

Dr Nicky Brown is a paediatrician with a sub-specialty in neonatology. She has post graduate diplomas in Paediatric Palliative Care (UCT) and Applied Ethics (SU). Nicky is a passionate advocate for perinatal palliative care and hopes to establish and strengthen perinatal palliative care services in KZN.

Sr Catherine Nelisiwe Mtolo
ICU Nurse

Catherine Nelisiwe Mtolo is a Paediatric Palliative Care Nurse working at Umduduzi Hospice for Children. Nelisiwe joined Umduduzi in 2023 after retiring as a Clinical Nurse. She has completed a course in Palliative Care for Children and also in Perinatal Palliative Care through PatchSA. She has vast experience and a passion for paediatric Nursing and has 15 years’ experience as an Operational Manager in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Her highest qualifications in nursing are a Diploma in Critical Care Nursing; a Bachelor’s Degree in Advanced Practice in Nursing Education; and a Bachelor of Honours Degree in Nursing Management.

Dr Nox Mbadi
Paediatric Head – Addington Hospital

Dr Nox Mbadi obtained her BSc and MBChB degrees from the University of the Transkei, now known as Walter Sisulu University. She worked at Mthatha General Hospital, Frere and Cecilia Hospitals in East London before moving to Durban where she worked as a Medical Officer before joining the Paediatric Registrar program. She worked at Victoria Mxenge Hospital previously known as King Edward VIII Hospital after she qualified as a Paediatrician. She is passionate about Child health and in July 2013 she returned to the Eastern Cape and became a District Specialist Paediatrician at OR Tambo District, one of the largest districts in the Eastern Cape, with four subdistricts. She provided paediatric support to 9 District Hospitals. She returned to Durban in July 2015 to take up the post of Paediatric Head Clinical Unit at Addington Hospital.

Her other qualifications include a Diploma in Child Health (CMSA),Diploma in HIV Management (CMSA). She was also one of the first students who registered for the PGDIP in Community and General Paediatrics with the University of Cape Town in 2015. She has always  had a special interest in paediatric palliative care and recently completed the PGDIP in Paediatric Palliative Care with the University of Cape Town and will be graduating at the end of the year.

Sr Ruth Davidge
KZN Neonatal Programme Manager

Ruth completed her certificate in Neonatal Intensive Care in 1996. She was the operational Manager for the Greys Hospital Tertiary level NICU for over 10 years. She then supported Western KZN hospitals running a Neonatal Experiential Learning Site (NELS) for 9 years. She is currently the KZN Neonatal Program Manager supporting 54 Public Hospitals to strengthen clinical governance and improve quality of care for neonates. She was the founding President of the Neonatal Nurses Association of Southern Africa (NNASA) and a founding director on the board of the Council of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN).

Sr Marlene Nadesan
Registered Genetics Nurse
IALCH

Marlene is a registered nurse working in Albert Luthuli Hospital, in Genetics. She has worked at IALCH for 12 years now after working previously at RK Khan Hsopital where she specialised in Neonatal ICU. It was there that she showed a keen interest in babies being born with birth defects, that was offered the Medical Genetic Education Programme (MGEP). In 2012, she applied for the post as the first Genetic nurse in KZN at IALCH. Currently, she is situated at the Obstetrics and Gynaecological Clinic at IALCH, where they work closely with the fetal unit and O & G dept. She is involved in an adult genetic clinic that is nurse driven and that sees adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis who require genetic counselling only. They also work very closely with Dr Buccimazza and her team, where they counsel patients with breast cancer, and offer these patients BRCA testing.

Dr Kasandri Govender
Specialist OB/GYN
GJGM Reg Hospital

Kasandri Govender is the mum of two amazing tiny humans (Mo and Tour) and the Senior specialist Obstetirican/Gynaecologist at General Justice Gizenga Mpanza Regional Hospital in KwaDakuza, KZN. Before that she was a Critical Care Fellow at Victoria Mxenge Regional Hospital: Medical and Surgical Adult ICU Kasandri is a medical volunteer with the Gift of the Givers NGO.
Her career interests include:

  • High risk obstetrics and the impact on perinatal outcomes
  • Perinatal Problem Identification Programme
  • Critical care for the maternal patient

Her career goals include the development of an obstetric ICU in the regional hospital at which she works. Her personal goals include mastering the acoustic guitar or piano before she turns 50, to make an impact on the world by raising kind humans, and to match her spouse’s level of incredible!

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Final Programme

Time

Topic

Presenter
8:30 – 08:45 Welcome and introductions PatchSA

Umduduzi
08:45 – 09:00 Parental perspective and experiences Family
09:00 -09:20 Integration of a palliative care framework into perinatal and neonatal care within a SA context Sr Tracy Rawlins
09:20 – 10:20 Underpinning the principles of Perinatal and Neonatal Palliative Care including decision making, ethics and Advance Care Planning Dr Julia Ambler
10:20 – 10:40 TEA & COFFEE BREAK
10:40 – 11:20 Communicating compassionately: Delicate dialogues when sharing significant news – what to share, how to share it, where to share it Sr Nelisiwe Mtolo

Dr Nicky Brown
11:20 – 11:45 Nurturing Comfort: Creating a supportive environment in the NICU, including pain and symptom management Dr Samantha Govender
11:45- 12:10 Enhancing quality of life for neonates and families including providing spiritual care and bereavement support for parents and siblings Tracey Brand
12:10 – 12:45 Bridging the gap of social and clinical competencies between spiritual and cultural practices and knowledge, and the western clinical approach. Nokulinda Mkhize
12:45- 13:00 Identifying your challenges in providing Perinatal Palliative Care and reframing them as a question for our panel Group activity
13:00 – 13:30 LUNCH
13:30- 14:15 Panel discussion – Panel members:
Nokulinda Mkhize (Traditional Healer)
Dr Nox Mbadi (Paediatrician)
Sr Ruth Davidge (KZN Neontal Programme Head)
Sr Marlene Nadesan (Genetics Nurse)
Dr Kas Govender (Obstetrician & Gynaecologist)		 Moderator:

Dr Julia Ambler
14:15 – 14:45 Crafting legacies of love: Exploring grief along the continuum of care and the significance of memory making Nonkululeko Shibula
14:45 – 15:30 Bringing it all together: A Case study Dr Nicky Brown
15:30 – 16:00 Wrap up and close PatchSA

Register and pay for the workshop

Fill in the form below to register for the workshop and then use the Payfast button to pay.

Please note that after 21 October, no refunds can be made. 

REGISTRATION HAS NOW CLOSED

Payment for the Perinatal Palliative Care Workshop

For venue and catering purposes, registration and payment for the workshop must be done in advance.

Closing date for registration is Monday 21 October

Please note, your registration will only be confirmed once your payment has been received.

Please check your email for confirmation of registration to attend the workshop. (Registrations will be processed during working hours.)

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Payment using EFT

If you would prefer to pay via EFT or to pay for more than one person, please use the banking details below. Once payment has been made, please send POP to Aimee Kinsley at admin@patchsa.org with the names of those you are paying for. Please let Aimee know should you require an invoice.

Account Name: PALLIATIVE CARE FOR CHILDREN

Bank: Standard Bank

Branch: Rondebosch 025009

Universal Branch Code for electronic payments: 051 001

Account Number: 27 058 442 0

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Payment using Payfast

To pay for yourself using Payfast, please click on the button below. Payfast accepts most Debit and Credit cards used in South Africa.