Get Guardian on GoogleTo mark the Maternal and Child Health’s month of Rotary International, the Rotary Club of Lagos Royale, District 9111 has organised an intensive training for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in Agege, Ikeja and Ifako- Ijaiye areas of Lagos.
The programe was aimed at educating and empowering the TBAs on how to ensure safe delivery of pregnant mothers in their custody.
Speaking during the programme, held with the with the theme, ‘Safe Management: Knowing your Limits, Recognising Danger Signs and Referring Early,’ the chartered President of Rotary Club of Lagos Royale,
Rotarian Bountiful Olubusayomi Taiwo-Adelanwa, said that the club is made up of young professionals who are already serving humanity in their private spaces and are willing to take their services to the next level through Rotary International.
“Every month Rotary has its area of focus of intervention. This programme was supposed to have been done in the month of July, but we had to change it to today to embrace our target audience.
“Rotary International mandated all clubs to organise programmes that address maternal and child health, and reduce maternal and child mortality all over the world. This also speaks to the Sustainable Development Goals and aligns with the core area of focus of Rotary international.”
She said that the club’s local communities are Agege, Ikeja, Ifako-Ijaiye and Orile Agege, adding that statistic shows that a lot of people from those communities patronise traditional birth attendant.
“We cannot be oblivious of the truth. UNICEF has recognised them.
WHO has recognised them. Even the Federal government has recognised them. Why should we shy away from them? For us as a club, we decided to work with them; we are doing retraining; we are doing sensitisation programme with them.
“They are professionals in their own field already. What we are doing today is that we are bringing to fore what they have learnt before. We are reminding them of it again and we are educating them on the importance of understanding labour management, warning signs and knowing their limits and when to refer.
We have refreshed their memories on labour management. We have educated them on how to use the standard parthograph. And we gave them a lot of copies to go home with. And they can replicate the copy for every labour they have. They will know when to refer. We gave them bedsheets to let them know that we recognise what they are doing and we want them to do better.”
A resident doctor in Obstetric and Gynecologist at LASUTH, Dr. Bolanle Bolarinwa, applauded the club’s initiative
“They are rendering service to humanity. As a doctor, I have seen cases that were mismanaged by the traditional birth attendants. Sometimes they were just waiting, maybe things will get better and things will get worst. The woman may end up dying, the baby may end up dying or becoming an imbecile as a result of it. So, we need to have health education sessions like this to remind them of the things to do,” Bolarinwa said.
Training covered 24 vocational and professional skill areas including fashion, data analysis and digital marketing, alongside leadership development to strengthen participants’ business management and entrepreneurial capabilities.
The project also incorporated mental health support, with monthly engagements organised to promote participants’ psychological well-being. Beneficiaries were equally supported with certification opportunities to strengthen their professional prospects.
