Traditional Birth Attendants Refresher Training Workshop

The Traditional Birth Attendants refresher training Workshop at the Camphor Mission Station Clinic started from June 21-25, 2010. It was organized to provide follow-up training for the TBAs who are conducting most of the deliveries in the catchment area of the George Z. Dean Memorial Clinic.

The workshop brought together 52-participants with prior training from 40-villages plus 8-TBAs helper. However, the training was marked by many unprecedented events. During the opening, one of the TBAs felt off and was urgently rushed to the clinic. Thank God that she recovered within 3-hours. She was later sent to her village. Also, during the course of the exercise, one of the TBAs lost her baby. She was also sent back to her family. Still, another one lost her sister

The opening ceremony of the Refresher workshop was attended by the senior staff of the Camphor United Methodist Mission Station and some local authorities who expressed their full support for the overall continued conduct of the TBAs program in the catchment area.

The workshop was facilitated by two persons. The focus of the training was to educate the TBAs on how to prepare their report in order to facilitate a follow-up on whether they are doing well.
The Pre-test was an oral test. Its scores range from 0/10 - 8/10.

The following topics were facilitated under the indicated areas:
Traditional Birth Attendants Basic Information
Introduction
Woman and Baby problems
Preventing problems
Referral

Woman Information
Bleeding too much
Sickness with pain and fever
Birth delay
Swelling and fits
Too many children/ family planning

Baby Information
Baby has trouble breathing at birth
Baby born too small
Baby is sick


General Health
Family planning
Child survival
Malaria
Hygiene

Before the beginning of the trainings, the TBAs were asked to say their individual perspective of the program since it began. All of them recounted the many benefits their communities have enjoyed from the training. It was clearly revealed by the TBAs that the knowledge being acquired is helping them to address the challenges they meet on a daily basis as community Health Volunteers (CHV). The TBAs said the training is practical because what are being taught is encountered on a daily basis in their respective communities. However, they appealed to the LAC/UMC Health Program to obtain License for them to do legal practice. The TBAs also appealed for increase in the workshop’s stipend. In response to the appeal to raise the stipend given to them during the training, the Training Management said that the workshop is sponsored 100% by the Trinity Church while the Community is not providing any support. As such, they only need to make themselves available for the training in order to prevent maternal and new born death in the catchment area.

At the close of the TBAs refresher training, post-test was given. It was done orally, one at a time, with the score ranging from 4/10 - 8/10, the lower to the highest. The TBAs were very happy for the knowledge and expressed the importance of the report for deliveries.

There is still widespread involvement of the community ownership of the project as evidenced by the outcome so far.

Challenges
However, there are still grave challenges that tend to undermine the successes being scored. The most of these challenges are the lack of safe drinking water, lack of mosquito nets, subsistence farming which do not provide financial income to the villagers, the bad road condition which can most often delay referral to the health centers and some villagers are still going to black baggers for purchase of drug, especially for pregnant women.

Recommendation from TBAs
Increment of stipend to 10USD
Construction of hand pumps in the villages
Distribution of mosquito nets in the villages
Up-grading of outreach program in the catchment area
Video for TBAs

Note:
Monitoring and Evaluation is still ongoing for TBAs in the catchment area every quarter.