JB orders traditional birth assistants to utilize medical facilities: FMB donate towards Malawi safemotherhood

President Joyce Banda has said it is not acceptable that women in Malawi should die giving another life hence she has asked Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) not to assist pregnant women in delivery but act as referral points to Health Facilities.

More women were dying because they find themselves in the hands of people who do not know the basics of safe motherhood.

“I am aware that some women still go to TBAs. This should not be allowed to happen. There is no excuse for this practice. All pregnant women must be attended to by qualified health personnel,” President Banda said.

She said this at Mkondezi in Nkhata Bay District when President Joyce Banda laid a foundation stone for the construction of a new 36 bed maternity waiting home at Nkhata Bay District Hospital.

Banda commissioning
Banda commissioning the work of the maternity wing in Nkhatabay

“A maternity waiting home is no longer an option but a necessity at all of our health facilities because maternal deaths are avoidable and unnecessary. Women should be protected and recognized for their role in any country’s development,” President Banda said.

First Merchant Bank (FMB) has bankrolled the project at US$80,000 (MK28 million).

“TBAs must stop forthwith and local leaders must help in making sure that TBAs do their proper role. It is my government’s wish to bring maternity services closer to people,” President Banda said.

Minister of Health and Population Catherine Gotani Hara said claimed that the rest of the world has taken Malawi as a model as far as Safe motherhood is concerned.

She thanked FMB for financing the project saying other banks are just bent on making money from people.

“FMB is one of the companies Malawi must have,” she said.

FMB representative Modecai Msiska said a nation is defined by how it cares for its mothers and children.

“Thus we are happy to be associated with the safe motherhood initiative by honoring our mothers when they are in the process of delivery,” Msiska said.

He said FMB has been associated with the health sector for a while citing funding for a sport complex to the tune of MK700 million at the College of Medicine in Blantyre and a nMK35 million Trauma centre at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.

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