London-trained Somali nurse helps deliver 22,000 babies
London-trained Edna Adan teaches new nurses midwifery skills at
her maternity hospital in Somaliland
Yet she traded it all in for civil war, hyena
attacks and water in buckets as she followed her dream to open the first
maternity hospital in her native Somalia.
In 2002, nearly 50 years since she began
training at Borough Polytechnic, now London South Bank University, she achieved
her ambition by opening Edna Adan maternity hospital in what is now
Somaliland.
In its 15 years nearly 22,000 babies have been
delivered.
“The first one was born eight hours after we opened,” she said.
I love nursing. I had to introduce nursing and midwifery to my country and start training midwives. Today families come to me and say we want our daughters to be like you
Edna Adan
“It’s the hospital that took my whole life to build.”
Ms Adan told Desert Island Discs how her
father, a doctor, inspired her love of health.
She said: “I used to hang around the hospital and give him a hand. He was my hero, still is. I’ll never be as compassionate as he was.”
She came to London on a scholarship in the
50s.
Her maternity training involved cycling to
help out at deliveries.
She lived here for seven years, becoming the
first Somali girl to study in Britain “and proud of it”.
In 1961 she returned home as the first
qualified nurse and midwife in the country, and the first woman to hold a
driving licence.
She said: “I love nursing. I had to introduce nursing and midwifery to my country and start training midwives. Today families come to me and say we want our daughters to be like you.” Somalia Terror Attack
Married three times, her first husband was
prime minister of Somalia, Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal.
Ms Adan, 80, was foreign minister from 2003
until 2006.
For her songs, she chose Whitney Houston’s I
Will Always Love You and Happy by Pharrell Williams.
She picked vegetable seeds as her luxury item
and her book was Half The Sky by Nicholas Kristof.
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