The Upper East Regional Chairman of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Thomas Lambon, has expressed discontent about the conditions of service for midwives in the country.
Enumerating the numerous challenges confronting midwives in the region, Mr. Lambon stated that, in addition to the limited number of midwives, the lack of logistics at various health facilities in the region affects effective maternal health delivery.
According to the GRNMA Regional Chairman, the challenges facing midwives are not new to the Ghana Health Service. Mr. Lambon made these statements on Al Radio in connection with the International Day of the Midwife, which falls on 5th May.
“We lack midwives across the country, not just in the Upper East region. The condition of service for midwives is nothing to write home about. It is like that for others. But the worst of it is the equipment and the facilities where they work. Where they give us care is where the problem is. You know, they are spread all over the communities, in CHIP centers, and some of them where they work, there is no light. Some of the midwives use touch light to attend to women. These are the challenges we are facing, and anytime we get a platform, we raise it. Ghana Health Service, as the employer, is aware of it.”
Mr. Lambon used the opportunity to call on midwives to be extra careful with their patients at their facilities.
“We have these words for our midwives, that we are midwives because there are pregnant women. They should know that if there is no pregnant woman, they would not be a midwife. So they should know that whoever comes to them in need of service and maternal care, they should do all that they can to make sure the person receives it as expected.”
The Bongo District Director of Health, Estella Abazesi, on her part, said midwives across the country, including those in the Bongo district, share similar challenges at the various health facilities.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|David Azure|Bolgatanga|
