Enhancing Knowledge of Traditional Birth Attendants for the Identification of Selected Labor Emergencies

Abstract

Objectives: In Nigeria, the number of professional midwives available for care of pregnant women and their babies is inadequate; hence, most pregnant women are attended to by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs). Studies show that TBAs have poor knowledge of how to identify obstetrics complications. Aim: To determine the effectiveness of a training program on enhancing the knowledge of TBAs in the identification of some selected labor emergencies. Materials and Methods: An experimental research design was conducted with probability sampling to select sample size (n = 111 TBAs). A modified, structured questionnaire from TBAs knowledge on identification of labor emergencies (TBAs-TPKI) was used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using Statistical Packages for the Social Science (SPSS) software. Descriptive statistics were used to provide answers to the six research questions of the study while inferential statistics of paired t-test was used to test the hypothesis of the study at 0.05 level of significance. Results: The results show that the mean score on knowledge identification on prolonged labor increased from 4.88±2.54 to 11.56±1.48; obstructed labor from 4.18±2.18 to 5.73±1.26, cord presentation from 2.44 ±1.27 to 5.78 ± 0.74, cord prolapse from 2.79±1.45 to 6.60±0.84, placenta abruptio from3.83±1.99 to 9.08±1.16 and postpartum hemorrhage from 3.48±1.82 to 8.26±1.05. The overall mean score of TBAs on knowledge of identification increased from 21.59 ± 11.26 to 51.19 ± 6.54 post-intervention. There was a significant difference between pre- and post-intervention mean scores of knowledge of TBAs on the identification of all the selected labor emergencies (t = 32.208, p = 0.00). Conclusions: The Ministry of Health in each state should organize regular training for TBAs to target early identification of obstetrics emergencies in order to reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria.