Certified midwives sought to improve health services

Certified midwives sought to improve health services

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta

In a bid to improve health services for women, the government
offered private midwives on Wednesday the chance to improve their
skills and competence by participating in a special program.

Under the program called Bidan Delima (pomegranate midwives),
private midwives are encouraged to pursue a diploma in midwifery
and master knowledge on family planning, maternal and neonatal
health, and steps to prevent infection.

In return, they would earn more than other midwives, said
Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI) chairwoman Harni Koesno.

"We haven't discussed the amount, as we are still trying to
set a standard for the fee," Harni said.

Each participant in the program would periodically pay a
membership fee. Members would be entitled to state that they were
certified by the IBI and the Ministry of Health on a sign board
at their practice.

Aimed at providing high-quality health services during
pregnancy and family planning advice, the program is jointly
conducted by the health ministry, the IBI, the National Family
Planning Board (BKKBN), the Sustaining Technical Achievements in
Reproductive Health/Family Planning (STARH) and the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID).

STARH program officer Mayun Pudja said the program was
targeting private midwives as 80 percent of them worked closely
with the BKKBN.

The BKKBN registered around 80,000 midwives in 2004, 86
percent of them (68,772) work in villages.

Of the village midwives, 40 percent are private, 50 percent
civil servants and the remaining 10 percent are those who work
based on government contracts.

"Private midwives are the feasible solution to the country's
quest for quality health services, as they are independent so
that they can take any decision without having to go through a
lengthy bureaucratic procedure," said Mayun.

Indonesia is among developing countries with a high maternal
mortality rate.

STARH team leader Gary Lewis said midwives were the ones who
provided primary health care.

"So, the answer is easy. I have no choice but to focus on
midwives if I want to improve maternal and child care," Lewis
said.

Asked about the possibility of poor villagers falling victim
to the program, as they could not afford to pay the delima the
higher fee, Harni said: "We will set a standard that is
affordable to everybody."

The IBI expects the number of delima to reach 10,000 by the
end of 2004 and 27,000 by 2005.