HUNGER PROJECT TRAINS TBAs (PAGE 39)

SEVEN traditional birth attendants (TBAs) drawn from remote areas of the Fanteakwa District have been taken through the basic rudiments of child delivery.
The four-day programme, which took place at the District Hospital at Begoro, was sponsored by Hunger Project-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the empowerment of people in various aspects of life, especially women in rural communities.
The participants, most of who were in their middle ages and had already been practising as TBAs, were selected from communities such as Obuete, Nteso, Abuoso, Ososo Trawa and Prekumase. 
Addressing the closing ceremony, the Fanteakwa District Director of Health Service, Dr C.N. Aduamah, who was also one of the resource persons, said although the TBAs performed creditably, some of them did not normally refer serious cases to the hospitals on time, leading to maternal deaths.
Dr Aduamah advised the TBAs to put into practice what they had learnt and expressed the hope that they would refer serious cases to the hospitals on time.
The course prefect, Madam Rita Teki Akwetey, on behalf of her colleagues, gave the assurance that they would follow the guidelines provided them for the safety of mothers and their new-born babies.
The Country Director of Hunger Project-Ghana, Dr Naana Agyemang-Mensah, said her outfit decided to sponsor the training of the TBAs in the remote communities to be able to perform well because of the difficulties expectant mothers from such areas had to go through in covering the long distances to the hospitals.
She stated that her outfit had earlier trained a number of TBAs in other rural communities as a result of which they had performed without any maternal or infant mortality.
Dr Agyeman-Mensah gave the assurance that her outfit would also continue to empower women in all aspects of life.
She expressed her appreciation to the health workers in the Fanteakwa District for training the TBAs.
All the trainees were later provided the necessary medical kits free of charge to be used in their operations.