Professional Documents
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Traditional Birth Attendants in
Traditional Birth Attendants in
Blantyre Nil Nil 9 8 8 Nil 20 45 2. To exam ine the T B A ’s activities and find
Thyolo Nil Nil 9 9 9 Nil 9 36 out how other activities as
recom m ended by the 1984, Maternal
Chikwawa Nil Nil . 10 6 6 7 7 36 and Child Health Review Mission, could
Mulanje Nil 0 8 7 7 Nil Nil 22 be incorporated into their training and
services(M inistry o f Health 1987,5).
Nsanje Nil Nil 10 10 10 10 Nil 40
O ne o f the main recom mendations w as to
TOTAL 15 19 181 185 130 142 169 841 i n c o r p o r a t e r e f r e s h e r c o u r s e s in th e
program m e to include new areas o f child
(M inistry of H e alth 1 9 8 7 ,4 ). spacing, m alaria and diarrhoea management
in c lu d in g u se o f c h lo ro q u in e and oral
rehydration solutions. This activity started in
- C hild-care and nutrition; I'R A D ITIO NA L BIRTl I July 1985. By February 1987, 123 trained
A 'lT E N D A N T TRAINERS T B A s had u ndergone a w e e k ’s refresher
- P e rs o n a l h y g ie n e , e n v ir o n m e n ta l c o u rse . T h is ac tiv ity is still co n tin u in g
hygiene and sanitation; In tandem with the TBA s training programme, (M inistry o f Health 1987, 5-6).
supervision w as equally im portant for the
- M anagem ent of antenatal clinicpatients, functioning o f the programme. As it was not A s special attention is paid during the training
that is, identification and referral o f possible for the personnel o f the Head Office course to local custom s and needs of the area,
at-risk m others to the nearest health o f the MOH tosuperviseall the trained women the TBA Ts use all sorts o f material to show
centre; in their area, the M inistry decided to train how these TB A s can function in their own
specific personnel to educate TBA; they are surroundings. T eaching hygiene, for example,
- Use, managem ent and care o f UNICEF called Traditional Birth Attendant Trainers is em phasised in many ways. O ne example is
Traditional Birth Attendant kit; (TBATs). the way in which women are shown how to
w ash their hands. The trainer uses water, soap,
- M a n a g e m e n t o f la b o u r , d e liv e ry , The first trainees’ workshop w as conducted in a maize cob, and a tin with a small hole in it,
post-partum or perinatal care o f the May 1981, fol lowed by tw o further workshops w hich is used as a running tap. This could also
new-born; in June and July 1982. T w o nurses were be taught with the aid o f pictures. The cutting
trained from each district, that is, a Registered o f the b ab y ’s cord is demonstrated by using a
- Recognition o f obstetric com plications C o m m u n ity H ealth N urse o r R eg istered rope or a soft cotton belt, which is tied in two
th a t m ay a ris e d u rin g la b o u r a n d N urse/M idw ife or an Enrolled Nurse/Midwife places, m aking knots. A razor blade is then
delivery; or Enrolled Comm unity Health Nurse. One o f used for cutting in between the two knots. For
the two w as the Maternal and Child Health equipm ent to cut the cord, the women are
- The role of the health team, the TBA and C o-ordinator. No specific selection criteria taught to prepare the bigger m atchbox in
her re latio n sh ip w ith o th er prim ary w ere applied (M inistry o f Health 1987:51). w hich they pack self-prepared boiled cord
health care workers; ligatures, a new razor blade and a piece of
(M inistry o f Health, 1987 2-3). The objective o f these w orkshops was to equip soap; they feel com fortable with this type of