Ghana must establish more midwifery schools - Segbefia

Mr Alex Segbefia, Minister of Health (MOH), Wednesday said the training of more midwives should be made a national priority in order to promote maternal health.

He said there is the urgent need to establish more midwifery training institutions to give opportunity to students willing to train in the profession.

He said the current trend in which more community health workers are being trained more than midwives ought to be changed.

“Midwives play a very important role in the lives of all people in the world and they are a future resource therefore there is the need to increase the numbers.

“We have resources, but we do not have enough of it, and how to get enough of it is what government is solving now,” Mr Segbefia said in Accra.

Addressing executives of the National Association of Registered Midwives Ghana, (NARM, GH) at their maiden National Council Meeting, the sector minister said retiring midwives would be given contracts to stay in the service.

“Any midwife who has reached the retirement age but is fit enough and in the needed geographical areas will be given engaged under a contract, “he said.

Mr Segbefia said the current five- year contract in the civil service structure would be maintained but it would be taken in tranches of two years and a year to end.

According to Mr Segbefia, the bargaining powers with regard to midwives protection is secured.

He, however, commended executives and members of NARM GH on their stand on issues such as strikes as well as their zero tolerance for maternal strikes.

Madam Ridhwana Hawa Amoako-Agyei, National President, NARM GH, speaking to the Ghana News Agency said the Association is committed to actively raising the quality of maternal and child healthcare in Ghana through effective midwifery practices.

She said NARM GH’s objective is to ensure that all midwives, regardless of where they work and their level of educational attainment achieve their full potentials.

“Our task is to make this possible and our mission is to provide practical, step by step support as an association to our members,” she said.

Madam Amoako-Agyei said shortage of midwives in the various health facilities is increasing the workload of midwives thereby affecting the quality of practice.

She said inadequate midwifery educators to improve capacities of the midwifery colleges, lack of clearly defined career progression, conditions of services and promotions schemes as compared to other professional group in the health sector as some of the challenges befalling NARM GH.

The National President, of NARM GH urged participants to use the opportunity to prepare and challenge themselves during and after their deliberations.

Mr George Kumi Kyeremeh, Director, Nursing and Midwifery, MOH, asked midwives to promote and sustain maternal health care in the health delivery system.

Participants called for better conditions of services in the various health centres especially when there is a problem with ambulance services in the Volta Region.

The meeting which was the first in the year was on the theme “Enhancing Maternal and Child Health Care for Sustainable Development: Midwives Making a Difference in Ghana.”