By George Y. Sharpe gy.sharpe@yahoo.com
Amidst Liberia’s maternal mortality rate, the Ministry of Health has completed a basic lifesaving skills training for 23 health workers in the Rural Montserrado County district of Todee, outside Monrovia.
The training, which ended on Thursday, was conducted with support from the Japanese Agency for International Development.
According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Liberia’s maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest in the world, with 1,072 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births.
Dennis Kamba, the district health officer for Todee said the midwives and registered nurses were trained on handling maternal complications mainly at the community level.
Mr. Kamba said there were lot of maternal cases referred from Todee District due to lack of knowledge on the part of midwives in the past few years.
He added that most of these referred cases could have been dealt with at the local levels were service providers knowledgeable.
The District Health Officer said the midwives and registered nurses who attended the training have gained much understanding about dealing with minor complications pregnant women faced at the point of delivery.
He said some of the cases often referred are minor ones that health workers in the district could handle at their levels.
“I recall there was a pregnant woman who was referred from Todee to the C. H. Rennie Hospital in Kakata sometimes in January this year. The lady gave birth on arrival at the Hospital. It tells you that her situation could have been handled by the referring health workers as there was no major complications,” Kamba recounted.
Mr. Kamba said with the knowledge afford the participants a drop in the amount of maternal cases referred from Todee is expected.
The District Officer also disclosed that the training followed series of engagements with community dwellers throughout Todee to support maternal health in the district.
“Before conducting this training, we had meeting with most of the communities throughout Todee to know how they can help to reduce maternal mortality in Liberia. Most of them agreed to encourage pregnant women to visit the health centers on schedule,” Mr Kamba explained.
He underscored the need for such a refresher training to be routinely conducted to boost maternal health across Liberia.
“Health workers are humans who are prone to forget, it’s natural. So these types of trainings are necessary. It will help the fight against maternal mortality in Liberia,” Mr. Kamba added.
The week-long training brought together 23 health workers including midwives and registered nurses from six health facilities within Todee.
Most of these facilities are several Kilometers away from some of the communities they serve.
Fatu Davies, a registered nurse who attended the training works at the Zingbor Town Clinic.
Ms. Davies said the clinic caters to patients who trek about 40 kilometers to come for treatment.
She said the one week exercise was worthwhile for health workers in the District, adding that it refreshed their memories and provided them new information that will make them properly handle maternal cases at their levels.
“I listened to our Supervisor (Dennis Kamba) telling you that we sometimes referred cases that we could handle at our respective clinics, it’s true. And that’s why I think this training is important. It refreshed our memories and educated us a lot.” Ms Davies said.