Midwives criticise govt's plan

2007-12-11 16:46

Durban - The government's plan to qualify midwives after two years was criticised by the Society of Midwives of SA on Tuesday.

The society's president, Deliwe Nyathikazi, told delegates at the start of the society's 7th Annual Congress being held at the International Convention Centre in Durban that there were concerns at "new initiatives to downscale midwifery".

"The shortage of midwives has a severe impact on the health system. We need more trained midwives."

She said the government's "downscaling" of the training period would have a negative impact on the quality of care provided to pregnant mothers and also their newborn offspring.

Currently, a period of four years was needed to earn a midwife's certificate, while the government was considering that the certificate be issued after two years of training.

"Without competent midwives, the future of mankind is threatened," said Nyathikazi.

'Promote using midwives'

She also said that the Health Department did not recognise the role of midwives, especially in primary health care clinics.

"We request minister that you further assist and promote the practice of using midwives," she said.

However, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said: "I don't think you should doubt the commitment to support midwives."

At a press conference afterwards, the minister said that attempts to have midwives operating after two years was not an attempt to minimise the role of midwives, but that the department had a made "principled decision to train mid-level health professionals" who would "release professional nurses from doing menial jobs".

Globally, about 500 000 women die during child birth.

Tshabalala-Msimang pointed out that one in 16 women in Africa on average died during a pregnancy, or during child birth.

In the developed world she said the figure was one in 2 800 women.

She said that the government needed to "increase its social spend" so that education, clean water and poor sanitation become less of a contributing factor in maternal mortality.

She said the department was trying to address the shortage of nurses by recruiting overseas, drawing back South African nurses who had previously emigrated to the UK and rehiring retired nurses.

Protecting mother and babies

Referring to the recent outbreak of klebsiella at Durban's Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital, she praised staff at the hospital for their speedy response in identifying the problem.

"In the main, it depends on each and every one of us. Our own conscience must say we are here to protect mothers and their babies."

Asked if reducing the qualifying time of midwives would increase the risk of a failure in infection control measures, she said the training of the mid-level nurses "must be appropriate".

She urged the society to consult with the SA Nursing Council on the planned changes midwifery qualifications, which had not been finalised.

- SAPA