A Parallel Strategy: Deliberate Inclusion of Trained Traditional Birth Attendants in Maternal and Child Health Workforce of Low-Income Countries

Abstract

The authors propose an interim parallel strategy for the thoughtful inclusion of trained traditional birth attendants (TTBAs) in the maternal and child health (MCH) human resources of low-resource nations to improve safe childbirth. This is in contrast with international policy recommendations that traditional birth attendants (TBAs) be eliminated and replaced by skilled birth attendants (SBAs). Dimensions for critical awareness that should inform global MCH enterprises are identified and elaborated in support of this proposal: omnipresent women’s status, international nursing and midwifery standards, ethnographic values and strategies, local government roles, culturally specific birthing expectations, and the realities of current MCH human resources infrastructures.