Nursing council tackles maternal deaths

THE Nursing Council of Namibia has identified student nurse midwife training as one of the areas that need improvement to prevent women and babies from dying in childbirth.

Speaking at a press conference at the council headquarters yesterday, the president of the council, Albeus Maswahu, said other problems that were identified are a lack of supervision and competent trainers. The council has engaged the services of specialist midwives from South Africa to offer training in Namibia in October.Nelouise Geyer, chief executive officer of the Nursing Education Association in South Africa, will help the Ministry of Health and Social Services in addressing the problem of childbirth deaths.Several women have died this year while giving birth in State hospitals.Namibia’s maternal mortality ratio almost doubled from 225 to 449 per 100 000 live births – from 1992 to 2006. Infant mortality increased from 38 per 1 000 births in 2000 to 46 per 1 000 births in 2006.