Adatara Peter, Afaya Agani, Baku Elizabeth A, Salia Solomon Mohammed, Asempah Anthony
Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
Public Affairs Unit, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
Int J Reprod Med. 2018 Oct 1;2018:2165627. doi: 10.1155/2018/2165627. eCollection 2018.
Traditional birth attendants play significant roles in maternal health care in the rural communities in developing countries such as Ghana. Despite their important role in maternal health care, there is paucity of information from the perspective of traditional birth attendants regarding their role on maternal health care in rural areas in Ghana.
The aim of this study was to explore and describe the role of traditional birth attendants in maternal health care in the rural areas in Ghana.
A qualitative explorative approach was adopted to explore the role of traditional birth attendants in maternal health care in the rural areas of Ghana. Ten (10) out of a total of twenty-seven (27) practising traditional birth attendants in the study area were purposefully selected from five (5) rural communities in the Bongo District of Ghana for the study. Data were collected through in-depth, unstructured, individual interviews using a guide. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed to identify themes.
Six main roles of traditional birth attendants on maternal health care in rural areas were identified in this study: traditional birth attendants conduct deliveries at home, they provide health education to women on nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, they arrange means of transport and accompany women in labour to health facilities, they provide psychological support and counselling to women during pregnancy and childbirth, and traditional birth attendants are not paid in cash for the services they render to women in the rural areas.
Our study brought to light the critical role traditional birth attendants play in maternity in rural and remote areas in Ghana. There is a need for skilled birth attendants to collaborate with traditional birth attendants in rural and deprived communities to provide quality and culturally accepted care in the rural communities.
在加纳等发展中国家的农村社区，传统助产士在孕产妇保健中发挥着重要作用。尽管她们在孕产妇保健中发挥着重要作用，但从传统助产士的角度来看，关于她们在加纳农村地区孕产妇保健中的作用的信息却很少。
本研究的目的是探讨和描述传统助产士在加纳农村地区孕产妇保健中的作用。
采用定性探索性方法，探讨传统助产士在加纳农村地区孕产妇保健中的作用。从加纳邦戈区的五个农村社区中，从总共27名执业传统助产士中特意挑选出10名进行研究。通过使用指南进行深入、无结构的个人访谈收集数据。对访谈收集的数据进行逐字转录并分析以确定主题。
本研究确定了传统助产士在农村地区孕产妇保健中的六个主要作用：传统助产士在家中接生，她们在孕期和哺乳期为妇女提供营养方面的健康教育，她们安排交通工具并陪伴临产妇女前往医疗机构，她们在孕期和分娩期间为妇女提供心理支持和咨询，并且传统助产士在农村地区为妇女提供服务不收取现金报酬。
我们的研究揭示了传统助产士在加纳农村和偏远地区孕产妇护理中所起的关键作用。需要熟练的助产士与农村和贫困社区的传统助产士合作，在农村社区提供高质量且符合文化习惯的护理。
