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SCA graduates midwives in Kunduz

April 28, 2007

To address the high maternal mortality rate ratio in underserved areas of Afghanistan, Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has taken the initiative to train midwives to serve in rural areas. The objective from MoPH with the community midwives is to give all women in Afghanistan access to professional healthcare during pregnancy and deliveries, in order to reduce the high maternal and child morbidity and mortality throughout the country.

SCA is the implementing partner of the Basic Packages of Health Services (BPHS) in Kunduz province since October 2003 and the Community Midwife Training Program has been running since April 2004. The project is funded by the European Commission.

The community Midwife Training Program contains of an 18 months long training course where the midwife students have been trained to be skilled birth attendants – how to deploy and primarily serve women and their babies during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period and including family planning. All the students have been selected from the community after fulfilling following criteria’s:

• The students have to be female and 18 years old or older.
• That they have demonstrated support that communities have approved the selection of students from their community, in the form of a letter from the local shore of similar body.
• Evidence of a minimum of nine years of education
• Passing mark on the basic entrance exam.
• A letter of support from students’ families/husbands stating that they are able to participate fully in the program, working in the hospital on all shifts and be prepared to go back to work kin the communities after completed the training.
• The midwife students have been practicing in one Distinct Hospital- in Imam Sahib and 38 Clinics.

SCA has in total trained 45 midwives in Kunduz province and is planning for the third batch of midwife students.