Training Manual for Traditional Birth Attendants

Maternal and Child Health including Family Planning is an area of major concern in the health care delivery system in Ghana. Between 60 and 70% of pregnant women see a midwife at least twice before confinement. However, less than 50% of all deliveries are supervised by trained health personnel. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth have therefore remained major causes of ill-health and death in Ghana today. In line with the principles of primary health care of universal accessibility to health care and community mobilization of resources for health, the Ministry of Health has been setting up community based services primarily for women and children using indigeneous healers within the community. Traditional midwives, more commonly known as Traditional Birth Attendants, are the most commonly found traditional health practitioners in our communities. They handle most deliveries in the country. Their training in the management of pregnancy and delivery, and in the care of the neonate will therefore make a definite impact on maternal and child health in Ghana. Several isolated attempts have been made in the past to train Traditional Birth Attendants in this country.
In order to ensure that the training of TBAs is systematic throughout the country, past experiences in their training have been pooled and this manual has been produced. A national TBA training programme has also been designed in the context of Primary Health Care. The aim of this manual is to train TBAs on a national basis.