Saving Lives of Mothers and Babies. An Assessment on Nurse-Midwives´ Knowledge in Bangladesh.
Introduction: Two women die every hour due to pregnancy and childbirth relatedcomplications in Bangladesh. It is well known that a strong midwifery profession is the key toachieving safer childbirth and it is the right of every woman to have access to a fully trainedmidwife and to a safe delivery. However this is not the case in Bangladesh. Today, theexisting nurse-midwives are not fully utilized for the midwifery services. The profession ismal-distributed, functioning as multi-purpose service provider and are not recognized as aseparate cadre of midwives. In relation to develop a six month additional Midwifery trainingfor these nurse-midwives, it was therefore essential to get a better understanding about theircurrent knowledge in the field of midwifery.Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of the nurse-midwives providingmidwifery services in twelve different health facilities in Bangladesh.Methodology: This baseline study was conducted at twelve different health facilities inBangladesh, using a questionnaire adapted from Johns Hopkins University (JHPIEGO),Maternal Health Programs, Guidelines for Assessment of skilled providers and modified intothe context of Bangladesh. It was a total of 38 respondents attending the survey and data wascompiled and analyzed manually.Result: The assessment showed that the respondents had a vast gap in their knowledge ofbasic midwifery skills. The findings showed that the majority of them had a significantly lowscore of knowledge related to antenatal care, normal labour, and management ofcomplications, childbirth and immediate newborn care as well as in post partum care.Discussion: The study demonstrated that the midwifery knowledge of the respondents did notfulfil the International standards based on International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)competencies. However, not only further training is needed, they need to be posted in amaternity unit to maintain their skills so therefore, creations of separate Midwifery posts are crucial