What in the world is being done about TBAs? An overview of international and national attitudes to traditional birth attendants

Indigenous Midwives and the Biomedical System among the Karamojong of Uganda: Introducing the Partnership Paradigm

Certainly there can be no argument against every woman being attended at birth by a skilled birth attendant. Currently, as elsewhere, the Ugandan government favors a biomedical model of care to achieve this aim, even though the logistical realities in certain regions mitigate against its realisation. This article addresses the Indigenous midwives of the Karamojong tribe in Northeastern Uganda and their biosocial model of birth, and describes the need British midwife Sally Graham, who lived and worked with the Karamojong for many years, identified to facilitate "mutual accommodation" between biomedical staff and these midwives, who previously were reluctant to refer women to the hospital that serves their catchment area due to maltreatment by the biomedical practitioners there. This polarisation of service does not meet that society's needs. We do not argue for the provision of a unilateral, top-down educational service, but rather for one that collaborates between the biosocial model of the Karamojong and the biomedical model supported by government legislation. We show that such a partnership is practical, safer, and harnesses the best and most economical and effective use of resources. In this article, we demonstrate the roles of the Indigenous midwives/traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and show that not only is marriage of the two systems both possible and desirable, but is also essential for meeting the needs of Karamojong women. The TBA is frequently all the skilled assistance available to these women, particularly during the rainy season when roads are impassable in rural South Karamoja. Without this skilled help, the incidence of maternal and infant mortality would undoubtedly increase. Ongoing training and supervision of the TBA/Indigenous midwife in best practices will ensure better care. We offer a way forward via the Partnership Paradigm (PP) that lead author Sally Graham designed in conjunction with the Indigenous midwives and biomedical staff with whom she worked, the development and characteristics of which this article describes.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of traditional birth attendants in pastoralist communities of Laikipia and Samburu counties, Kenya: a cross-sectional survey

INTRODUCTION

Current efforts to reduce maternal and newborn mortality focus on promoting institutional deliveries with skilled birth attendants (SBAs), and discouraging deliveries at home attended by traditional birth attendants (TBAs). In rural Kenya, semi-nomadic pastoralist communities are underserved by the formal health system, experience high maternal and neonatal mortality, and rely primarily on TBAs for delivery care, despite Government proscription of TBA-assisted births. This study examined the knowledge, attitude and practices of TBAs serving these communities to assess the potential for collaboration between TBAs and SBAs.

METHODS

A cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey was conducted among 171 TBAs from Maasai and Samburu pastoralist communities in Laikipia and Samburu counties, Kenya, as part of a larger mixed-methods study in partnership with a local service provider.

RESULTS

BAs were relatively elderly (mean age 59.6 years), and attended an average of 5-6 deliveries per year. A minority (22.2%) had received formal training. They provided antenatal, intra-partum and post-partum care. Most TBA care was non-interventionist, but not necessarily consistent with best practice. Most had encountered birth complications, but knowledge regarding management of complications was sub-optimal. Most had previously referred at least one woman to a health facility (80.1%), were key participants in decision making to refer women (96.5%), and had been present at an institutional delivery (54.4%).

CONCLUSION

TBAs continue to be key providers of maternal and neonatal healthcare in regions where the formal health system has poor coverage or acceptability. Strengthening existing TBA/SBA collaborations could improve both community links to the formal health system, and the quality of care provided to pastoralist women, while remaining consistent with current Government policy.

Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) as potential agents in promoting male involvement in maternity preparedness: insights from a rural community in Uganda

Background

Since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, male involvement in reproductive health issues has been advocated as a means to improve maternal and child health outcomes, but to date, health providers have failed to achieve successful male involvement in pregnancy care especially in rural and remote areas where majority of the underserved populations live. In an effort to enhance community participation in maternity care, TBAs were trained and equipped to ensure better care and quick referral. In 1997, after the advent of the World Health Organization’s Safe Motherhood initiative, the enthusiasm turned away from traditional birth attendants (TBAs). However, in many developing countries, and especially in rural areas, TBAs continue to play a significant role. This study explored the interaction between men and TBAs in shaping maternal healthcare in a rural Ugandan context.

Methods

This study employed ethnographic methods including participant observation, which took place in the process of everyday life activities of the respondents within the community; 12 focus group discussions, and 12 in-depth interviews with community members and key informants. Participants in this study were purposively selected to include TBAs, men, opinion leaders like village chairmen, and other key informants who had knowledge about the configuration of maternity services in the community. Data analysis was done inductively through an iterative process in which transcribed data was read to identify themes and codes were assigned to those themes.

Results

Contrary to the thinking that TBA services are utilized by women only, we found that men actively seek the services of TBAs and utilize them for their wives’ healthcare within the community. TBAs in turn sensitize men using both cultural and biomedical health knowledge, and become allies with women in influencing men to provide resources needed for maternity care.

Conclusion

In this study area, men trust and have confidence in TBAs; closer collaboration with TBAs may provide a suitable platform through which communities can be sensitized and men actively brought on board in promoting maternal health services for women in rural communities.

Handling postpartum haemorrhage- obstetrics between tradition and modernity in post-war Sierra Leone

OBJECTIVES

How traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in post-war Sierra Leone explain, handle and prevent postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) and their potential role in a better management of PPH to reduce maternal mortality in this low resource setting.

METHODS

Semi-quantitative interviews about knowledge and measures in PPH and participant observation with 140 Sierra Leonean birth attendants, divided in three groups: (A) TBAs who never attended any official training course (n = 82); (B) TBAs who attended at least one official training course (n = 48); and (C) officially trained birth attendants (n = 10).

RESULTS

There are several observable gaps in the knowledge of TBAs about PPH compared to modern obstetrics, however similar procedures exist. Herbal medicine is applied; metaphysical convictions about PPH remain present. Training courses show an impact. Officially trained birth attendants demonstrate knowledge deficiencies and lack resources and infrastructure to manage PPH adequately.

CONCLUSIONS

Morbidity and mortality of PPH in Sierra Leone is related to several factors and not solely to the ignorance of TBAs. TBAs still play an important role for many women there. Hence improvement of the formal health sector should be combined with life-saving programmes integrating TBAs in the care for the pregnant, delivering and breastfeeding mothers.

Traditional Birth Attendants in Samoa: Integration With the Formal Health System

A traditional birth attendant (TBA) is a person who assists the mother during childbirth and who initially acquired her skills by delivering babies herself or through apprenticeship to other TBAs. In many parts of the world, TBAs continue to provide a significant proportion of maternity care during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. In Samoa, TBAs are recognized part of both the formal and informal health care system. The aim of this research was to examine the contribution that TBAs made in the provision of maternity care in Samoa. A descriptive study was undertaken, and 100 TBAs who had attended more than 400 births a year were interviewed as part of a broader Safe Motherhood Needs Assessment.

The findings highlighted that although TBAs can work in collaboration with individual health providers or facilities or be integrated into the health system, TBAs were often practicing autonomously within their communities, independent of collaborative links. This study showed that formal recognition and registration of TBAs would improve the recording of births and augment their partnership to the formal health care system. This formal registration process has since been implemented to improve monitoring and evaluation and assist future research with this important group.

Effectiveness of strategies incorporating training and support of traditional birth attendants on perinatal and maternal mortality: meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effectiveness of strategies incorporating training and support of traditional birth attendants on the outcomes of perinatal, neonatal, and maternal death in developing countries.

DESIGN

Systematic review with meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES

Medline, Embase, the Allied and Complementary Medicine database, British Nursing Index, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, BioMed Central, PsycINFO, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature database, African Index Medicus, Web of Science, Reproductive Health Library, and Science Citation Index (from inception to April 2011), without language restrictions. Search terms were "birth attend*", "traditional midwife", "lay birth attendant", "dais", and "comadronas". Review methods We selected randomised and non-randomised controlled studies with outcomes of perinatal, neonatal, and maternal mortality. Two independent reviewers undertook data extraction. We pooled relative risks separately for the randomised and non-randomised controlled studies, using a random effects model.

RESULTS

We identified six cluster randomised controlled trials (n=138 549) and seven non-randomised controlled studies (n=72 225) that investigated strategies incorporating training and support of traditional birth attendants. All six randomised controlled trials found a reduction in adverse perinatal outcomes; our meta-analysis showed significant reductions in perinatal death (relative risk 0.76, 95% confidence interval 0.64 to 0.88, P<0.001; number needed to treat 35, 24 to 70) and neonatal death (0.79, 0.69 to 0.88, P<0.001; 98, 66 to 170). Meta-analysis of the non-randomised studies also showed a significant reduction in perinatal mortality (0.70, 0.57 to 0.84, p<0.001; 48, 32 to 96) and neonatal mortality (0.61, 0.48 to 0.75, P<0.001; 96, 65 to 168). Six studies reported on maternal mortality and our meta-analysis showed a non-significant reduction (three randomised trials, relative risk 0.79, 0.53 to 1.05, P=0.12; three non-randomised studies, 0.80, 0.44 to 1.15, P=0.26).

CONCLUSION

Perinatal and neonatal deaths are significantly reduced with strategies incorporating training and support of traditional birth attendants.

Effect of Shifting Policies on Traditional Birth Attendant Training

Traditional birth attendant (TBA) training commenced in many places in the non-Western world in the 1970s, supported by the World Health Organization and other funding bodies. By 1997, senior policy makers decided to refocus priorities on the provision of "skilled attendants" to assist birthing women. The definition of skilled attendants excluded TBAs and resulted in the subsequent withdrawal of funding for TBA training globally. A review of the health and sociological literature and international policy documents that address TBA training revealed how international policy and professional orientation are reflected in education programs designed for the TBA. Policy makers risk ignoring the important cultural and social roles TBAs fulfill in their local communities and fail to recognize the barriers to the provision of skilled care. The provision of skilled attendants for all birthing women cannot occur in isolation from TBAs who in themselves are also highly skilled. This article argues a legitimacy of alternative worldviews and acknowledges the contribution TBAs make to childbearing women across the world.

Home-based life-saving skills in Liberia: acquisition and retention of skills and knowledge

INTRODUCTION

In 2006, Home-Based Life-Saving Skills was introduced in three Liberian counties, in partnership with Africare-Liberia and the Liberian Ministry of Health and with funding by the United States Agency for International Development.

METHODS

Traditional midwives and trained traditional midwives (N = 412) underwent pre- and immediate posttesting on four topics. Three hundred eighty-nine (94%) of the original participants also completed 1-year follow-up posttesting.

RESULTS

Mean scores significantly improved between pre- and immediate posttests and knowledge improvement was stable at 1 year. Correct responses on individual steps for each of four topics significantly increased over the course of training. The data demonstrate a major change in the knowledge base of the traditional and trained traditional midwives acting as village guides.

DISCUSSION

Home-Based Life-Saving Skills is a viable means by which to improve community knowledge and decrease maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.

60 Million non-facility births: who can deliver in community settings to reduce intrapartum-related deaths?

BACKGROUND

For the world's 60 million non-facility births, addressing who is currently attending these births and what effect they have on birth outcomes is a key starting point toward improving care during childbirth.

OBJECTIVE

We present a systematic review of evidence for the effect of community-based cadres-community-based skilled birth attendants (SBAs), trained traditional birth attendants (TBAs), and community health workers (CHWs)-in improving perinatal and intrapartum-related outcomes.

RESULTS

The evidence for providing skilled birth attendance in the community is low quality, consisting of primarily before-and-after and quasi-experimental studies, with a pooled 12% reduction in all cause perinatal mortality (PMR) and a 22%-47% reduction in intrapartum-related neonatal mortality (IPR-NMR). Low/moderate quality evidence suggests that TBA training may improve linkages with facilities and improve perinatal outcomes. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) of TBA training showed a 30% reduction in PMR, and a meta-analysis demonstrated an 11% reduction in IPR-NMR. There is moderate evidence that CHWs have a positive impact on perinatal-neonatal outcomes. Meta-analysis of CHW packages (2 cluster randomized controlled trials, 2 quasi-experimental studies) showed a 28% reduction in PMR and a 36% reduction in early neonatal mortality rate; one quasi-experimental study showed a 42% reduction in IPR-NMR.

CONCLUSION

Skilled childbirth care is recommended for all pregnant women, and community strategies need to be linked to prompt, high-quality emergency obstetric care. CHWs may play a promising role in providing pregnancy and childbirth care, mobilizing communities, and improving perinatal outcomes in low-income settings. While the role of the TBA is still controversial, strategies emphasizing partnerships with the health system should be further considered. Innovative community-based strategies combined with health systems strengthening may improve childbirth care for the rural poor, help reduce gross inequities in maternal and newborn survival and stillbirth rates, and provide an effective transition to higher coverage for facility births.

Traditional birth attendants in rural Nepal: knowledge, attitudes and practices about maternal and newborn health

Efforts to formalise the role of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in maternal and neonatal health programmes have had limited success. TBAs' continued attendance at home deliveries suggests the potential to influence maternal and neonatal outcomes. The objective of this qualitative study was to identify and understand the knowledge, attitudes and practices of TBAs in rural Nepal. Twenty-one trained and untrained TBAs participated in focus groups and in-depth interviews about antenatal care, delivery practices, maternal complications and newborn care. Antenatal care included advice about nutrition and tetanus toxoid (TT) immunisation, but did not include planning ahead for transport in cases of complications. Clean delivery practices were observed by most TBAs, though hand-washing practices differed by training status. There was no standard practice to identify maternal complications, such as excessive bleeding, prolonged labour, or retained placenta, and most referred outside in the event of such complications. Newborn care practices included breastfeeding with supplemental feeds, thermal care after bathing, and mustard seed oil massage. TBAs reported high job satisfaction and desire to improve their skills. Despite uncertainty regarding the role of TBAs to manage maternal complications, TBAs may be strategically placed to make potential contributions to newborn survival.

Home based life saving skills: promoting safe motherhood through innovative community-based interventions

In much of the developing world, home birth with unskilled attendants is the norm, and maternal and neonatal mortality rates are high. A comprehensive approach to address this problem needs to upgrade referral facilities and strengthen the skills of trained health care providers. To improve pregnancy outcomes, a program must also provide education, motivation, and mobilization of pregnant women, families, and communities (whose members must come to a common understanding of the need for and the means to prevent death of a woman or neonate). Consequently, the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) has expanded the Life Savings Skills Series to include Home Based Life Saving Skills (HBLSS). HBLSS is a community and competency-based program that aims to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by increasing access to basic life saving measures within the home and community and by decreasing delays in reaching referral facilities where life-threatening problems can be managed.