WHO To Phase Out Traditional Birth Attendants

The World Health Organisation has reached an agreement with developing countries to phase out the use of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in maternal health care by the year 2015.

   Director, Institute of Maternal and Child Health in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Prof Alice Nte made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen shortly after attending a one-day discussion forum organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs titled, Women’s Health: The progress the Technique”, in Port Harcourt.

   Prof. Nte who deplored the activities of TBAs stated that they help complicate medical condition of pregnant women who patronise them due to ignorance and poverty. 

  Part of the measures she submitted that would be used to phase them out is the need to discourage Ministry of Health in training TBAs as planned.

  She argued that the training of TBAs would worsen the medical delivery system since a lot of them are illiterates and cannot adopt to modern medical practices, adding that most of them also use unsterilised tools capable of  transmitting HIV/AIDS.

  Rather than training them, she advised that TBAs can be used as ad – hoc personnel in identifying pregnant woman in the communities after which they could be compensated for providing information.

  The pediatric expert cautioned pregnant women not to patronise TBAs, but should visit health centres, Clinics and hospital where a medical personnel would attend to them.

   She pointed out that a lot of women die from complications during child birth, noting that about 250 women die daily due to lack of access to good medical facility during birth.

  Calling on mothers to go for frequent antenatal checks before birth, Prof.  Nte advised that there are special vaccines pregnant mothers need to take before and after birth.

She equally urged mothers to vaccinate their children form various ailments, pointing out diarrhea kills about 17 per cent of children below five years of age.