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Midwives Supervisory Workshop to Assist India Reduce Maternal Mortality

13 April 2006

Awareness posters by children in India on Maternal Mortality and Safe Motherhood were displayed at India's Trained Nurses Association headquarters where the Master Training Course for Midwives Supervisors was held.
Awareness posters by children in India on Maternal Mortality and Safe Motherhood were displayed at India's Trained Nurses Association headquarters where the Master Training Course for Midwives Supervisors was held.
To help support the provision of quality health care services in hospitals and communities in India, a 'Master Training Course for Midwives Supervisors on Safe Motherhood' was held in New Delhi on 3-7 April 2006 to strengthen the training and supervisory skills of participants on various components of safe motherhood. The training course was targeted at the training of trainers to equip them with the skills to conduct courses for fellow nursing/midwifery personnel. Six men were among the 38 participants from 28 different states of India who attended the workshop.

The five-day training programme was hosted by India's Trained Nurses Association and facilitated by Peggy Vidot, Adviser in the Health Section of the Social Transformation Programmes Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat. With the recent emphasis and priority for improvements in the quality of maternal and child health services in India, Ms Vidot said the nurse/midwife professionals have a crucial role to play in achieving this goal.

She pointed out that statistics in India have shown that the maternal mortality rate remains high -- it has been estimated that every five minutes a women dies in childbirth or as a result of pregnancy-related complications. "Of the approximately 600,000 maternal deaths that occur globally, about 110,000 of these deaths occur in India, representing close to 20 per cent of the global numbers. It is important that we try to improve the care these mothers receive by having competent nurse/midwives who can give them quality care and who can take appropriate actions should complications arise."

Ms Vidot stated the workshop would enable the master trainers to review the concepts and components of maternal and child health care, and examine the roles and responsibilities of nurse practitioners in providing quality maternal and child health care. She stressed that the workshop would strengthen the training and supervisory skills of master trainers in various components of safe motherhood, which would enable the participants to conduct the training of trainers courses for fellow nursing personnel working at various levels of the health care system such as in hospitals, educational institutions and within the community.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 280, 12 April 2006

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