adminHealth Community meeting underway in Arusha Tanzania, director of nursing services in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Mrs Cynthia Chasokela said 550 PCNs have been trained to help mothers deliver.
With financial support from the Health Transition Fund, a further 255 PCNs would undergo the same training by end of September. “Previously, PCNs curricula did not comprise of any skills to manage maternity cases, but now it has been,” Mrs Chasokela said.
She said instead of 18 months, the PCN training would now be taking two years to complete.
“All the PCNs who were trained previously have been up-skilled to be able to manage obstetric and maternity issues but those coming from school now will cover the component during the two years,” she said.
Before the PCNs were trained, there was a critical shortage of midwives in public institutions with skilled and trained midwives accounting for less than 30 percent. Mrs Chasokela said the percentage translated to about 150 midwives throughout the country.
But the current development will see an additional 800 PCNs skilled in midwifery into the health system.
She said the National University of Science and Technology has agreed to train midwifery tutors, which was another contentious issue in maternal health.
Online Reporter
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