London-trained Somali nurse helps deliver 22,000 babies

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.
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“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
Wed, January 25, 2017
At least seven people were killed after two car
bombs exploded outside a popular Mogadishu hotel,
and gunmen forced their way inside the building
and opened fire, police said.
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A general view shows the scene of a secondary
explosion in front of Dayah hotel in Somalia's
capital Mogadishu [REUTERS]
REUTERS 1 of 7
A general
view
shows the
Residents
carry an
injured
Somali
governmen
soldiers
Rescuers
carry an
unidentifie
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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