Ensuring that every birth is attended by skilled health personnel by 2015 is what is expected of all countries if they are to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5. But how feasible is this for most African countries? According to WHO, skilled attendance at birth remains drastically low in sub-Saharan Africa; only about 42% of the childbirths are assisted by a skilled attendant in the Africa region, some countries registering as low as 5%[i]. This is against the target of 80% of births being assisted by a skilled attendant by 2015 if the goal of reducing maternal mortality rate by three quarters (between 1990 and 2015), is to be achieved.
Skilled attendance at the time of delivery is an important variable that influences the birth outcome and the health of the mother and her infant. Skilled attendance can be accessed at health facilities or through domiciliary or community midwifery. At both levels appropriate medical attention can reduce the risks of obstetric complications that increase the risk of morbidity and mortality for the mother and her baby.
Figure 1: Maternal mortality ratio by country, 2008
Source: UNICEF, Progress for Children: A Report Card on Maternal Mortality, 2008
Who is a skilled attendant?
A skilled attendant is defined as ‘an accredited health professional – such as a midwife, doctor or nurse – who has been educated and trained to proficiency in the skills needed to manage uncomplicated pregnancies, childbirth and the immediate postnatal period, and in the identification, management and referral of complications in women and newborns’[ii] This definition implies that the term ‘skilled attendant’ should refer exclusively to people with midwifery skills; people who are capable of managing normal deliveries and to diagnose, manage or refer complications. Midwifery skills are a defined set of cognitive and practical skills that enable the individual to provide basic health care services throughout the continuum of pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal period and also to provide first aid for obstetric complications and emergencies, including life-saving measures when needed. In 2006, a consensus was reached on what are essential competencies of the skilled attendant in the Africa Region of WHO[iii]. It should be noted that the definition of skilled attendant does not include Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA), trained or untrained.
Until the mid-1990s, the term “trained attendant” was commonly used in national statistics, which tended to lump both professionals and non-professionals (e.g. trained TBAs) together, as long as they had received some “training”. However, training does not necessarily guarantee the acquisition of the needed skills. From 1996 onwards, the word “skilled” has been employed to recognise competent use of knowledge[iv].
Effectiveness of ‘skilled attendants’ depends not just on their knowledge and competency, but also on the environment in which they function. Skilled attendance should therefore not be considered purely in terms of skills of the service providers but also the environment in which they work- physical space, equipment, supplies, drugs and transport for referral of obstetric emergencies. The political, policy and socio-cultural environment can also enable or prevent effectiveness of ‘skilled attendance’[v].
Does skilled attendance at birth lower maternal deaths?
There is no direct scientific evidence to show that skilled attendance lowers maternal mortality; however, comprehensive analyses of the factors behind the successful reduction of maternal deaths in countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Honduras clearly indicate that a central feature in all of them was the presence of a skilled attendant at delivery. The experience from those countries is what is currently guiding maternal and neonatal health policy and programming; especially what was done to ensure high availability of skilled birth attendants, as well as the kind of environment that ensured their effectiveness[vi].
Two important lessons from these experiences are (a) achieving skilled attendance for all requires attention to the political, social and legal actions that address women’s human rights and equity, this being especially important if skilled attendance is to impact on the health outcomes of poor people; and (b) development of skilled attendants must go side by side with the creation of an enabling environment, including putting in place resources that are needed for emergency obstetric care and responsive referral systems.
Will skilled attendance result in reduced maternal deaths in Africa?
According to WHO ensuring skilled care at every birth can reduce the global burden of 536 000 maternal deaths, 3 million stillbirths and 3.7 million newborn deaths each year[vii]. Half of the 75 countries in which 97% of all maternal deaths worldwide occur are located in the sub-Saharan Africa. Within Africa, the eastern region has the lowest proportions of skilled attendance at birth (about 34%). In addition, enormous disparities exist within countries: poor women in rural and urban areas are far less likely than their wealthier counterparts to receive skilled care during childbirth. For example, the 2008-9 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey showed that women in the highest wealth quintile were nearly four times more likely to have been attended by a doctor or nurse/midwife, at their last delivery[viii].
The countries of sub-Saharan Africa are faced by numerous challenges in their effort to ensure skilled attendance at birth. These can be coalesced into the following two: developing the needed human resources for health, and creating an enabling environment for effective skilled attendance.
- · Development of human resources for health- skilled attendants
Human resource for health is a key component of the health care system, which requires efficient mechanisms for recruitment, deployment, retention and supervision of the workforce, as well as ensuring accountability of service providers.
Five years ago, WHO estimated that to extend coverage of maternal and newborn care in the following 10 years (to 2015), 75 countries[ix] needed at least 334,000 additional midwives (or equivalent skilled attendants), as well as additional training for 140,000 existing professionals providing first-level care and of 27,000 doctors who are not currently qualified to provide back-up care[x]. According to these estimates the current health workforce in some of the most affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa would need to be scaled up by as much as 140% for the country to attain the Millennium Development Goals.
Health worker shortage in sub-Saharan Africa derives from many causes, including inadequate planning and investment for pre-service training, inadequate deployment, loss of trained personnel due to poor work conditions, internal and external movement, career changes among health workers, premature retirement, morbidity and premature mortality. In some countries trained health workers remain unemployed for long periods because of inadequate budgetary allocations to ministries of health.
A recent study[xi] focused on 12 African countries[xii] has found alarming workforce shortages in all the countries, with the current rate of increase in health workforce density being much slower than what WHO considers necessary for achievement of desired levels of coverage of key health interventions[xiii] (a minimum density of 2.28 health workers per 1000 population). The study has suggested a variety of complementary, shorter-term responses if countries were to aspire to achieving international goals, among them, adoption of aggressive retention policies, e.g. improving the remuneration and working conditions of health workers; addressing current unemployment of trained professionals; and adoption of task-shifting[xiv] practices where necessary. However, all these should be viewed as stop-gap measures while countries further developed/expanded local pre-service training opportunities.
- · Creating an enabling environment for skilled attendance
An enabling environment can be viewed more broadly to include the political, policy and socio-cultural context in which skilled attendance must operate (structure), as well as the more proximate factors such as pre- and in-service training, supervision and deployment, and health systems financing (inputs). Within the political and policy environment are considerations such as legislation/regulations which govern scope of professional activities, but more important is the level of government commitment and stability which are crucial to smooth functioning of health services. The social/cultural environment will include cultural factors which may influence acceptability and effectiveness of service providers and the services they provide; for example, Muslim societies may object to male skilled attendants (male doctors and nurses), examining women. Socio-economic status, gender and women empowerment are other important factors with strong bearing on the performance and effectiveness of skilled attendants. Finally, effectiveness of the service providers is enhanced by responsible management systems, functional infrastructure, equipment/ supplies, management and health information systems, communication and transport mechanisms. Above all, availability of the above depends on sound planning and financing of the health sector.
Conclusion
The countries of sub-Saharan Africa are faced by numerous challenges in their effort to ensure skilled attendance at birth, particularly the serious human resource shortages and weak health systems. Recent assessments of progress towards MDG 5 suggest that most sub-Saharan African countries have made only modest progress, with at least 8 countries[xv] demonstrating negative change[xvi]. These findings cast a lot of doubt as to whether many sub-Saharan African countries will achieve skilled attendance for all births in the remaining period to 2015. Factors such as limited funding for health services, and inequities in reaching all pregnant women irrespective of wealth status, are some of the major reasons for inadequate progress.
There is data to show that the current number of health workers in most countries is insufficient to meet population health needs[xvii]. Addressing this challenge will require expansion of pre-service training of nurses, midwives and doctors, with a view to increase health worker densities in order to meet the target level of 2.28 physicians, nurses and midwives per 1000 population. Considering that pre-service training is clearly a longer-term solution, a variety of complementary, shorter-term responses, (as discussed above), will need to be considered.
As a way forward African governments need to create health policies and necessary legislation in support of delivery of essential maternal health interventions. Such policies are important building blocks of a well functioning health system- including financing of health services, and ensuring equitable access to skilled attendants for all pregnant women. Despite the fact that total official development assistance (ODA) to maternal, newborn and child health programmes increased by 64%, from US$2.1 billion in 2003 to almost US$3.5 billion in 2006[xviii], expenditures on health in most African countries remain far less than the threshold below which it is difficult to ensure access to basic services (US$45 per person). As a result, out-of-pocket health expenditures in sub-Saharan African countries range from 6% in Namibia to 62% in Chad[xix]. Faced with heavy out-of-pocket expenses, many families either avoid seeking care altogether, or risk impoverishment when they do so. Under such scenario ill-health contributes to, and perpetuates, poverty in sub-Saharan Africa[xx].
Related links:
[i] WHO/AFRO. Consensus on Essential Competencies of Skilled attendant in the African Region Report of regional consultation, Brazzaville, 27th February-1st March 2006 WHO Africa Regional Office, 2006
[ii] WHO/UNFPA/UNICEF/World Bank Statement (1999). Reduction of maternal mortality: a joint statement. Geneva: WHO.
[iii] WHO/AFRO. Consensus on Essential Competencies of Skilled attendant in the African Region Report of regional consultation, Brazzaville, 27th February-1st March 2006 WHO Africa Regional Office, 2006
[iv] Starrs A (1997). The Safe Motherhood Action Agenda: Priorities for the Next Decade. New
York: Inter-Agency Group for Safe Motherhood and Family Care International.
[v] Wendy J Graham, Jacqueline S Bell and Colin HW Bullough Can skilled attendance at delivery reduce maternal mortality in developing countries ? Studies in Health Services Organisation & Policy, 17, 2001 pp97-129
[vi] Wim Van Lerberghe and Vincent De Brouwere Reducing maternal mortality in a context of poverty Studies in Health Services Organisation and Policy, 17, 2001
[viii] Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and ICF Macro. 2010. Kenya Demographic and Health
Survey 2008-09. Calverton, Maryland: KNBS and ICF Macro.
[ix] Half of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.
[x] WHO. 2005. World Health Report 2005. Geneva: WHO.
[xii] Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia
[xiii] World Health Organization, The world health report 2006.
[xiv] The shifting of certain tasks from professional that require longer-term training to those requiring less intensive training which may be more affordable, for example permitting midwives to administer perenteral drugs, to manually remove the placenta, to remove retained products of conception, and to resuscitate newborns.
[xv] Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal.
[xvi] Countdown to 2015, 2008 Report Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival New York, United Nations Children’s Fund, 2008.
[xviii] Note: The total amount of aid for maternal, newborn and child health-related activities represents just 3% of total ODA
[xix] Adam Leive, Ke Xu. Coping with out-of-pocket health payments: empirical evidence from 15 African countries. Bulletin of the World Health Organization Volume 86, Number 11, November 2008, 849-856
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