A two-year course will see eighteen Single Trained Midwifery students
equipped to serve communities through the primary healthcare delivery
system in the areas of maternal and child health.
This was revealed by Health Education Officer at the Ministry of
Public Health, Wilton Benn, one of the facilitators of the training
programme. Benn explained that the Single Trained Midwives are trained
to work in the community and to support the primary health care
system.
“They are going to be able to provide valuable service not just to
maternal and child health but the umbrella of family health which
encompasses health throughout the life cycle and so essentially their
training will equip them to be able to improve the primary health care
system.”
The midwifery students are currently in their second year of training.
Benn said, “they are attached mainly to the hospital to observe and to
be involved in the basic skills of midwifery. They also have to do
some didactic time, so one day a week they come to classes and other
days they are in clinical areas in maternal and child health where
they practice their skill as midwives.”
Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence paid a visit to the trainees
while she was in the region and was elated to learn that a new
complement was being trained.
Just recently she learnt of the need for more midwives in the region’s
primary health care facilities and hospitals. She was advised that if
there were more of these personnel in the region the burden of a high
number of maternity cases on the New Amsterdam Regional Hospital would
be significantly reduced.