Project News

Prior to the elaboration of in-service training of midwives, an assessment survey was conducted in order to observe the level of knowledge and competence of midwives, as well as to understand the situation of current assistance in the field, such as in-service training and coaching of midwives. Seven health facilities of all levels were selected as targets of this survey as follows; one referral hospital, two district hospitals, one health centre with maternity ward in Djibouti city, two health centre without maternity ward in Djibouti city and one health post. In this survey, interviews with chief medical officers and supervisors of midwives and direct observations of the services provided by midwives were conducted by the members of the project. The basic knowledge of midwives was also checked with the use of questionnaires.

The results find that there is variety of the level of knowledge and competence among midwives, and the opportunity for midwives to receive the training support varies. In light of these results, the importance of the project which aims to standardize the quality of care provided by midwives is reconfirmed. Moreover, it becomes clear that midwives needs assistance in the field for fully utilizing the knowledge obtained in the training in their daily work. Given that, it is required to plan activities collaborating with chief medical officers and supervisors of midwives in order for them to provide the technical and psychological follow-up support for midwives.