BOLANLE AMBODE CHARGES TRADITIONAL BIRTH ATTENDANTS TO ADOPT MODERN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES
The Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode has implored newly trained Traditional Birth Attendants in the State to reflect the modern training skills acquired while carrying out their professional tasks of child delivery.
The Lagos First Lady, who stated this in her keynote address at the 2nd Graduation Ceremony of Traditional Birth Attendants from the Lagos State College of Health Technology, in collaboration with Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board, explained that the ultimate objective of the State Government is to attain excellence in its efforts at updating the knowledge of the trained Traditional Birth Attendants.
According to her, there is need to train and retrain traditional birth attendants in order to increase their skills and modernise their method of handling baby delivery procedure, as well as taking care of newborn babies and their mothers.
She emphasised that no amount of investment by the government in training and re-training them is too much, considering the vital role they play in childbirth, adding that since most expectant mothers in the rural areas patronise them, the government has a duty to train them to hone their skills.
The First Lady commended the efforts of the Lagos State College of Health Technology and the State’s Traditional Medicine Board for successfully training the first and second sets of Birth Attendants, assuring that more sets will soon be trained to assist the government in achieving a zero maternal and infant mortality, which is a major component of the State‘s Sustainable Development Goals.
While congratulating the beneficiaries of the training, Mrs. Ambode commended them for the important role they play in baby delivery, especially in the rural communities of the State and urged them to pay special attention to basic hygiene and standard practice.
She urged birth attendants to ensure timely referrals of cases that are beyond their capacity whenever necessary.