Regions One, Four, Nine CHWs undergoing Midwifery training” ministry working to acquire equipment to deal with postpartum haemorrhage

Oct 14, 2018 News

Twenty-five Community Health Workers (CHWs) from Regions One, Four and Nine have begun training in Midwifery.
This is the third phase of an $8M Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded project for the improvement of the quality of reproductive healthcare delivery in Guyana. The first phase saw 20 persons from Region Nine being trained as CHWs and the second phase equipped those new CHWs with the requisite tool kits to improve antenatal care. Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that her ministry began working with Regions One, Four and Nine since it was discovered that they have the highest number of maternal deaths. She added that several specialists have already been sent to Region One, while efforts have begun to bolster the human resources in Region Four.
However, more emphasis has been placed on Region Nine since the region is furthest from tertiary health care institutions and the villages are sporadic. It was, therefore, decided to pilot the IDB project in the region. “We jump started the third phase to have more midwives in the region. So, we have 25 CHWs from various communities in Regions One, Four and Nine, but more from Region Nine so that we can reach our target of zero maternal deaths,” Minister Lawrence said. Through close collaboration with the region, the Ministry of Public health already has CHWs stationed in each community, with four riverain villages outstanding. Those communities will soon have a CHW, Minister Lawrence assured.
In the interim, the ministry is in the process of acquiring equipment to deal with postpartum haemorrhage (excessive bleeding following the birth of the baby) which is the leading cause of maternal deaths, and other medications for all health facilities across Guyana. “Should an issue arise the midwives will utilise the equipment along with the tool kits to save lives. We have confidence in the regions, they are with us and showed interest in addressing the issue of maternal and child death,” the Public Health Minister explained.

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