Classes for expectant mothers, partners begin
Maranyane Ngwanaamotho | Tuesday May 6, 2014 14:50
Briefing the media last week, a midwife from Gaborone West Phase 1 clinic, Lame Sedimo, said the idea was mooted after realising that while government is providing antenatal care to all pregnant women, maternal and infant morbidity and mortality remain high.
Sedimo said the classes would target all pregnant women and partners, who can be a parent, friend, sibling or father of the child. The classes will be offered in groups of 10 to 15 at Old Naledi, Gaborone West, Mafitlhakgosi, Broadhurst 3 and Lesirane maternal clinics in Gaborone.
Among other things, the participants will be taught such things as baby bathing and tour of the delivery room and viewing of the equipment used during delivery.
Sedimo said that the classes aim to provide information and a channel of communication to pregnant women to assist in reduction of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.
“The information helps mothers identify danger signs for early intervention. Mothers will know that baby birthing is conducted by trained midwives and in an area safe for delivery not anywhere or anyhow,” she said.
She said the classes would equip women and their partners with knowledge on high-risk conditions that may occur before, during and after delivery.
“By attending the classes, mothers will learn of minor disorders of pregnancy, labour, as well as pre and post delivery disorders.
They will be equipped with the necessary expectations for labour and delivery, thus easing their anxieties,” said Sedimo.
Further, the classes are meant to encourage men to accompany their partners to health facilities during pregnancy, labour and post delivery.
“Couples will also be equipped with the necessary skills for child rearing in these classes,” she said.
The classes are divided into four sessions after which a mother will have to complete a patient satisfaction questionnaire to gauge what they have learnt.
In the first class, mothers will be informed on the danger signs, physiological changes in their bodies and digestion matters. Danger signs are repeated in all the classes.
During the second class, mothers are taught of the partner’s role before, during and after delivery.
They are also informed of the difference between false labour and true labour.
“Labour is not an emergency,” Sedimo said, adding that, “Mothers and their companions should know what actions to take or what not to do. We teach them what to bring in their hospital bag.”
Class three takes mothers and their partners on a labour tour visit. They are taken to an admission and delivery room and get to watch a video of a woman during delivery.
The stage focuses on issues of post delivery with demonstration classes of how to clean the baby’s umbilical cord, breastfeed and what forms of exercise can be undertaken after giving birth.
Princess Marina Hospital introduced the classes in 2011.
“Princess Marina alone could not succeed winning this battle so the Gaborone District Health Management came to its rescue.
We found it necessary to have these classes in their facilities to cover a large population and thus assist in the reduction of these complications and deaths,” said Sedimo. Five midwives from Old Naledi, Gaborone West, Mafitlhakgosi, Broadhurst 3 and Lesirane maternal clinics were taken to Princess Marina in June and July last year to benchmark.
The programme will be rolled out to the rest of the country in due course, officials say.