Teaching and Assessing of Midwives training packages - Essay Example

The poor hygiene and lack of special skill in conducting child delivery process contributes to the high number of maternal deaths.3 It is also crucial to prevent the pregnant women from acquiring infection since it could endanger both the mother and her fetus.4 Among the common perinatal infection and infant diseases includes: syphilis, congenital gonococcal opthalmia, and congenital rubella syndrome while others may experience bacterial vaginosis and group B streptococcal infection. In some cases, HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, herpes viruses, toxoplasma gondii, and cytomegalovirus could be silently transmitted from the expectant mother to the infant during the pregnancy stage, delivery of the baby, and/or breastfeeding.

It is important to extend health promotion guidelines to expectant mothers. In line with this matter, midwives should be able to determine the main source of these perinatal infections and how it could be transferred from the pregnant woman to her fetus. For instance, Toxoplasma gondii,4 one of the major causes of blindness, mental retardation, and hearing loss among babies is commonly found in undercooked meat, unwashed fruits and vegetables, and in cat feces. As part of spending more time in the health promotion given to pregnant women, midwives should advice these women to be sensitive with the cleanliness of the food they eat.

The health promotion for expectant mothers should highlight breast-feeding programs.6 A trained Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) is not enough to save the women’s lives since these individuals are not able to treat pregnancy and delivery complications.9, 10, 11 Studies have shown that providing a competent attendant with knowledge and skills in prevention, detection, and management of major obstetric complications including the availability of medical equipments, drugs, and other essential medical supplies is one of the best ways to prevent maternal deaths.

5 Therefore, it is necessary to