Traditional Birth Attendants and Maternal Mortality

A Study of Ohaji Egbema, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality continue to be a problem with a huge disparity between developed and developing countries. About 99% of maternal and newborn deaths occur in low and middle income countries, globally amounting to about 500 000 maternal deaths and 8 million peri neonatal deaths per year. In this settings Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), who are mostly women embedded in the community and its socio-cultural frame with no formal medical training and no connection to the formal health system, play a major role around childbirth. TBAs exist since centuries and still continue to be the major providers of care for families, in poor and remote areas where they assist up to 50 – 80% of deliveries. This paper therefore examine the role Traditional Birth Attendants play in maternal and child health in remote communities in the Ohaji-Egbema Local government and to come out with some policy recommendations that will help in achieving the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5.