Training Traditional Birth Attendants

MAF continues to work with Ugandan NGO to reduce maternal death in Tororo District

In April 2011, MAF arranged for volunteer, Paul Chick, to go to Tororo, Uganda to work with Hands of Hope, a multifaceted Ugandan NGO with whom we have worked previously, to set up Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) training groups focused around MAF education and training films.

 

Along with staff from HoH, Paul showed our ‘Safe Delivery’ animation to 4 separate groups of TBA’s. Present at each of the training sessions was a local nurse/midwife, this was to enable the TBAs to watch the films and then ask any questions they may have to a local, trained health worker. 

 

There is an on-going debate amongst many organisations working in developing countries as to the importance of training TBAs in basic skills especially as to the management of obstetric emergencies and the impact that this can have on maternal mortality and morbidity.  Many countries have attempted to make TBA activities illegal in the past, including Uganda, but the impact that this has on the outcome of the delivery is unknown and in some cases thought to have a negative impact, for example in Malawi, where President Bingu wa Mutharika lifted its TBA ban last year. The lack of success as a result of the ban is due, in part, to many existing barriers to care provision.  These include, the sudden onset of labour in very remote areas, especially during the night, fears surrounding the provision of care offered in local health centres and the cost of delivery amongst other things.

 

Paul experienced first hand the benefit of bridging the divide between TBAs and local, government trained nurses and midwives during these sessions.  The TBAs were very receptive to the film and enjoyed the benefit of a group discussion afterwards where they quizzed the local nurse as to certain difficult situation they had been presented with and how they should have managed them. They also asked about the importance of each of the steps in the Neema Delivers a Baby animation, and each attendee was presented with a certificate of attendance post training.

 

MAF is very grateful to HoH staff who orchestrated the training sessions and to Paul. The sessions were very well received and we intend to send out more films in the coming months for each of these groups to continue their training as well as their level of access to the local health workers, whom most of the TBAs stated they had never spoken to previously.

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