DEGREE PROGRAMME FOR MIDWIVES SOON (PAGE 11, AUGUST 14, 2010)

The Department of Nursing at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is collaborating with three health institutions to fine-tune a proposal meant to establish a degree programme for midwives in Ghana.
The programme, expected to take off in 2011 at the KNUST, is designed to train students of midwifery in health training institutions for them to perform quality midwifery functions in a more effective and efficient manner.
The other collaborations are the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Family Health of the Ghana Health Service and the International Confederation of Midwives of West African College of Nursing.
The Bachelor of Science Midwifery degree programme is also expected to serve as potential workforce for further development of researchers on issues related to reproductive health.
About 20 participants from the Department of Nursing of KNUST, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), the Ministry of Health, as well as the International Confederation of Midwives and the United Nations Family Planning Agency, among others, participated in the seminar.
In her address, Dr Jemima Dennis-Antwi of the International Confederation of Midwives, expressed concern about the lack of capacity building of midwives in the country.
She pointed out that inadequate incentives, coupled with the lack of initiatives to make the profession more attractive in terms of career development, among others, had contributed to discourage the youth from entering the profession.
The situation, he said, was having an impact on the issue of maternal mortality in the country, explaining that the few midwives were not able to address the needs of expectant mothers.
She pointed out that the degree programme for midwives would not only offer students in midwifery the opportunity to have career progression, but would also expand the intake of students who would be eager to work in the rural communities to address their healthcare needs, thereby enhancing the reproductive health of women in deprived communities.
“ The programme will improve the quality of training and service delivery, create a pool for midwives with reputable background and gather a pool of researchers to enhance the credibility of the profession locally and internationally,” she assured.
The Director of Human Resource of the MoH, Dr E Appiah-Denkyira, said it was important for stakeholders in the health sector to adequately address challenges confronting midwives as a way of enhancing reproductive health among women, adding that the challenges made the profession unattractive, and did not encourage the youth to venture to enter the field.
This, he said, would make it possible for the country to meet the targets of the Millennium Challenge Goals (MDGs).
He said about 65 per cent of midwives in the country were between the 50 to 55 year bracket, indicating that they would soon retire from the profession.